Destroying a memory
by cazbarbj
Summary: Skye, Alcazar, Brenda, Jax, Jerry
1. Default Chapter

Ah this dream again. This is such a nice safe place. A nice two-story house settled in the middle of a garden surrounded by woods. She wanders around the garden occasionally smelling the flowers and smiling at the familiarity of the place. She knows every flower on every bush here. She should, in her dream she planted every one. The result of her hard work blossomed all around her.  
  
"Mommy, mommy." She turned and smiled as her daughter ran to her. She picked her up and studied her face. She feels such love in her heart for this child. The dream is so vivid and detailed. She even imagines that she can remember the pain of giving birth to her. She walked into the house carrying her daughter. She stops to admire each room. Everything here is so familiar. This house and his child feel so right. She even imagines that she can remember buying and placing every item in each room. She could imagine the history behind each keepsake.  
  
Then she felt her husband's presence. Funny, in all her dreams she has never seen him. She can fell him in the room, his arms around her and she can even feel his lips on hers. He makes her feel safe, wanted, loved, but she can never see him. She just has the impression that he has been with her a long time and he always will be.  
  
This time she does something different. This time she wanders into the bathroom and looks into the mirror.  
  
'Oh my god!'  
  
She sat upright in the bed, rubbing her hands over the features of her face. 'That wasn't me. That wasn't my face.' She thought.  
  
She felt her heart pacing wildly as she looked around the cabin bedroom and at the man lying beside her. 'It is so strange.' She thought. When she first came to Porte Charles and escaped Alcazar all she could think of was these strong emotions that she had for Sonny and Jax. All she could concentrate on was getting to them and making sure that they were safe.  
  
Now she is here and Jax is beside her, but her dreams take her somewhere else, to someplace that she desperately wants to be. Each night when she dreams, they become more detailed, more real to her than her own memories.  
  
'I wonder what it could mean,' she thought. 'Maybe it is all the stress that I have been under lately. Tomorrow I will make an appointment with that shrink they told be about while I was visiting Jax in the hospital.' With her decision made, Brenda settled back into the sheets and fell asleep.  
  
'Oh god no. Not him again. I came to Paris to get away from him. How the hell did he find me in a city this size,' Skye thought. "Why are you here?" Skye scowled as Alcazar sat down at the table. 'Can't I ever get any peace?' "How did you find me anyways?"  
  
"If you must know, I'm having you followed." Alcazar stated with a smile.  
  
"Why? So you can track me down and gloat? Do you want me to say it?" Skye glared at Alcazar as he calmly took a drink. "Fine I will say it. You were right, damn you. Jax loved his precious Brenda more than he loved me, even four years removed."  
  
"My dear Skye, how many times do I have to tell you that you deserve to be loved by someone who sees you and only you?"  
  
Skye slammed her cup on the table and stood up. "How many times do I have to tell you that, that person will never be you?"  
  
Skye marched angrily around the table and made her way to the door.  
  
Alcazar followed closely behind her. "Skye, I just want you to be happy."  
  
Skye stopped, turned around and stared directly into his face. "My happiness," she yelled. "You couldn't give a damn about my happiness. If you did, you would stop interfering in all of my relationships."  
  
"But my dear Skye, all those other men were all wrong for you."  
  
"Wrong answer. What you really mean is that all those other men weren't you. I just have one question. How the hell did you get Brenda to agree to your little plan? Don't give me that nonsense about Brenda being with you for the last four years, because I have seen enough of you to know better."  
  
"You're right. I only had Brenda for about a month after her accident. However the woman in your husband's bed doesn't know that. As far as she is concerned, she has been with me all this time."  
  
"Your famous brainwashing tactics. I probably have just cause to install a restraining order against you."  
  
"As I recall, you have a couple of times."  
  
"Why did I bother? They never seem to work."  
  
"That's what I have always wondered. I also wonder why you didn't blow me out of the water when you heard I was in town."  
  
Skye glared at him.  
  
"Admit it. As much as you hate my tactics, you were just as curious as I was to see if Jax would choose you over any lie or challenge that I threw his way. The entire set up may have been a lie, but Jax's reactions weren't."  
  
"And look were it got me. Alone again, in pain, trying to get it through your head that there never will be an us while my husband is having the time of his life reliving the past with his one true love. Thank you so much Luis for yet gain making my life miserable and showing me how easily the people who claim to care about me will turn against me. With people like you around, I don't need anymore enemies." Skye stormed out of the building.  
  
Luis smiled as she left. 'I absolutely adore that woman. But don't worry my dear. I already arranged Jax's punishment for harming you long before I moved to interfere in your life. I guarantee that Jax will be both hurting and regretting his choice before to long. After all, my brainwashing will only last so long. Sooner or latter, the lady gracing Jax's bed will remember the truth. When that happens, he will learn a thing or two about the pain of living in a lie.'  
  
If you want more then you have to tell me so. 


	2. chapter 2

'Over all, it has actually been a good day.' Skye thought as she sat down at the cafe table with her purchases. 'Shopping. It is one of the great joys of being in Paris. The stores line ever street. Although, Alcazar's minions aren't even trying to hide themselves anymore. I almost managed to loose them again today in the crowds at Au Printemps. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they put a tracking devise on me somewhere to keep track of me. Especially after the way I managed to ditch them last week. That would be just the sort of thing Luis would come up with. Another good reason not to wear any of the presents that he sends me.' Skye shook her head in amusement. 'Will there is one advantage to having them there. I don't have to worry about anything bad happening to me unless Luis himself orders it. Now, if I could somehow get it through Luis's thick skull that he is wasting his time, I might be able to form something resembling a normal life.'  
  
"Good Morning Miss Chandler."  
  
Skye groaned. 'To speak of the devil,' she thought. 'Why do I always get stuck with the crazy ones?' "Luis, my name is Mrs Jacks." 'And I might just keep that name long after my next divorce if it will somehow get the idea that I'm not his sunk into his thick skull.'  
  
"Nonsense, as far as I am concerned, until the day you take my name, you will always be Miss Chandler. Those other men were never worthy of you. That latest one, well, he is very possibly the greatest fool of the lot."  
  
Skye had an overwhelming urge to start banging her head against the table in frustration.  
  
"However, I might be persuaded to accept the name Miss Chandler- Quartermaine if you insist on carrying your birth fathers name next to your adopted name."  
  
Skye looked to heavens. 'Why me? Are you having a big laugh up there at my expense?'  
  
"Now my sweet. What can I do for you today?"  
  
Skye took a sip of coffee. 'Oh the possibilities. Jump off a cliff. Step in front of a train. Get lost and never come back. Basically, let me have a life. It's what I want to say, but I won't. I know from past experience that he just becomes more encourageable.' Instead she said, "Why don't you give your hired thugs something useful to do, like say delivering my purchases back to my hotel room for me so I don't have to carry them."  
  
"Of course my dear. You have only to ask." Alcazar motioned for one of his men to take Skye's bags. Moments later, Skye's purchases were gathered up and carried off by one of the men. Alcazar turned back to Skye. "Now see how easy that was. You told be what you needed and I arranged for it to be done."  
  
"Sure, as long as what I want doesn't interfere with what you want." Alcazar was starting to get on Skye's nerves.  
  
"But of course. Why would I ever order something done that would interfere with what I want? I have great hopes that someday you will learn to stop wanting things that interfere with my needs. Now let's try something a little harder. Why don't you tell me what your heart desires so I can arrange it for you?"  
  
At that point Skye lost her patience. "You know what my heart desires and you know damn well why I can never have it."  
  
Skye got up and stormed off.  
  
Alcazar motioned for one of his men to follow her, then he sat back to think.  
  
'What does Skye's heart desire that she thinks she can't have?' Alcazar was stumped for a moment. 'Of course, that's it! It is the same thing that she has wanted since she was a little girl. Hmm, this will take a little time and a lot of arrangements, but it can be done.' Alcazar picked up his phone and pushed speed dial 2. "Mr Wells, I need you to get me Dr Neff. I have a job for him. Offer him whatever he wants, but get him to Paris. Oh, and I have a few other arrangements that I need made. I will fax you the list. I will expect everything to be in place within two days."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
'That's what I like about Wells. He never complains or makes excuses. He just does as I ask and keeps he mouth shut. Now that list. Oh the things I do to keep that woman happy and with me. If this works, it should accomplish both."  
  
Meanwhile in Port Charles.  
  
'It's not the same. She's not the same,' Jax thought. 'Hell it's been four years. Of course she's a little different. Everyone changes. But so many things are different. Her tastes, her favourite foods, but those things change too. I just wasn't around for the last four years to watch them change and to change with her. It's like getting to know her all over again.  
  
The last couple of weeks, she has been pulling away from me. I could swear that she's making up excuses not to spend time with me.  
  
When she came to Port Charles, seeing her alive was so overwhelming. Everything that I have ever felt for her cam rushing to the surface. And when I found out that she wasn't dying, it was like I was granted a miracle. But now, it feels different. Do I really love her or am I acting on my old memories.  
  
And where is Skye? I have been calling her for two weeks. She isn't returning my calls. I don't blame her. But I want to hear her voice. I want to know that she's okay. I'm worried about her. Oh God. I have so screwed up my life. I miss her. I'm still ticked at her, but I miss her. Heaven help me, because I still love her. But I also love Brenda, don't I?'  
  
"Brenda, the doctor will see you now."  
  
'What?' I watched as Brenda walked across the lobby and went into the office. 'Brenda sent me out to renew her prescription of birth control. She said that she wanted some time to herself at the cabin. What is she doing here?' After the door closed behind her I walked over to see which doctor she was with. 'A psychiatrist? Why didn't she tell me? Do I confront her about it? I don't want to make it any worse. I think that I will wait a few days and see if she comes to me.'  
  
In the doctor's office  
  
"Doctor, Thank you so much for seeing me."  
  
"You said that you were having nightmares."  
  
"Well, they aren't nightmares, exactly."  
  
"Brenda, may I call you Brenda?"  
  
Brenda nodded.  
  
"Why don't you sit down and tell me all about it."  
  
"The dreams themselves aren't threatening. In fact when I'm in them I feel safe, happy, and very content."  
  
"I don't see the problem. Most people don't complain about dreams that make them feel that way."  
  
"The problem is that they don't feel like dreams. They feel like memories. Every time I woke up over the last two days, I felt like I was in the wrong place. I felt like I should be there."  
  
"Tell me about these dreams."  
  
"I am at this house in the country."  
  
"Whose house is it?"  
  
"Mine."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I just do. Like I know that I decorated all the rooms and planted all the gardens. There is this little girl that calls me 'mommy.' It isn't just a dream or a wish. I can actually remember giving birth to her. There is a husband. I can never see him but I know that it isn't Jax."  
  
"How does that make you feel?"  
  
"Confused, on one hand I have all these feelings for Jax, but in my dreams, it isn't Jax that I want to be with."  
  
"Do you love Jax?"  
  
"I don't know? A couple of weeks ago, I would have said absolutely yes. But now?"  
  
"Maybe your dreams are trying to tell you something?"  
  
"Yes, like maybe I'm loosing my mind. That isn't the strangest thing about the dreams."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"When I look in the mirror, I don't see this face. The face is very similar to mine. The same hair and eyes, but the rest of the features have small changes in them. I feel like I'm going crazy. I was wondering, well, my mother had this disease that was driving her insane. I was wondering if I had it to."  
  
"I thought that you had already been tested for it."  
  
"Yes, but I never actually saw the results. First I took Alazar's word that I was sick, then I believed Jax when he said that I wasn't."  
  
"You don't trust Jax?"  
  
"It isn't that I don't trust him. It's just that he got his information second-hand. It could be wrong. I want to take the test again. I need to know for sure."  
  
"I can set it up right away if you have the time to wait."  
  
"Thank you." 


	3. chapter 3

Two days later  
  
« Where is she? » Alcazar said over the phone.  
  
"She lost us again in the Louvre, but we picked up her trail as she was leaving. I have to admit, she is getting better and more creative everyday."  
  
"And the tracking device?"  
  
"We need to find a way to affix a new one onto her. She either found the last three or else she dropped her earrings in water to clean them. You might want to consider investing in the waterproof variety just in case."  
  
Alcazar laughed quietly to himself. 'That's my girl. Always thinking. I wonder if she actually found them or if she is just drowning anything that she thinks that I might attach them to. "Did she buy any watches lately?"  
  
"Yes, actually she has bought a new one every day. That's why we were attaching the things to her jewelry. She doesn't seem to wear the same watch very often."  
  
'So, she is drowning everything that we would attach it to.' "Don't bother putting anymore tracking devises on her until we come up with something more durable. She knows what we are doing, she just doesn't know exactly where we are putting them. That's why she buy's the new watch every day. Everything is ready. Where is she now?"  
  
"She is shopping on the Rue de Pansy. Wait, she just sat down at a café at the Place de Pansy."  
  
"I'll be right there."  
  
Skye looked around the café as she waited for her coffee. It was a rather brisk day and she needed something to warm her up. She smiled at the waiter as she saw him headed her way with her drink. However, her smile turned quickly into a frown as Alcazar stopped the waiter, took the drink, walked over to her table and set it down in front of her. 'Damn, I didn't even see them pick up my tail after I lost them in the Louvre. Where the hell are they hiding at today.' Over the past couple of weeks, spotting and losing Alcazar's men had become a rather serious game. The prize would always come at mealtime. If she was successful, Luis wouldn't be able to find her. His men always tell him when she sits down at a restaurant or café. He always shows up not long after that.  
  
"How are you doing today my angel?"  
  
"Great until you showed up." Skye was still somewhat peeved that she hadn't noticed when the men picked up her trail. She took a sip of her drink.  
  
"Now dear, all this tension can't be good for you. I happen to know of an excellent spa where you can lay back and relax all day. You could be pampered to your heart's content."  
  
"Luis, take a hint, go away."  
  
"Now dear, you know that I wouldn't dream of leaving you at a table to drink alone."  
  
"I wasn't alone yesterday."  
  
"Don't tell me that you are still upset that I asked that man to leave. It was for your own good and his."  
  
"You scared him so badly that he wouldn't even return my calls this morning."  
  
"Now see, you would never want to be involved with someone who would give up so easily."  
  
"Luis, you threatened to use him as fish food. Considering what you do for a living, it's called self-preservation."  
  
As Skye sat there drinking her coffee, she started to feel a slight ache in her stomach. She lightly rubbed the area where it was starting to hurt.  
  
"Skye are you okay. You look a little pale."  
  
"I think that I am going to go back to my hotel and lay down for awhile." Skye started to stand up and then doubled over in pain.  
  
Alcazar rushed to her side. He looked up and motioned for one of his men to get the car. "Skye, where does it hurt?" Skye's arms were holding her stomach. It hurt so badly that she was crying. "Everything is going to be okay. I'm going to take you to a doctor who will make it all better." Alcazar tried to sooth Skye. When the car pulled around, he picked her up and carried her to it. He gently laid her in the back seat. "To the clinic." Alcazar told the driver. As they pulled away, he pulled out his phone and dialled. When the person on the other end answered, all he said was, "We're coming. Be ready." Then he hung up and continued to try and sooth Skye.  
  
They car pulled up quickly to the clinic. Alcazar scooped Skye up and ran in and laid her down on a bed. The last thing that Skye saw was the doctor leaning over her. He gave her a shot, and then Skye didn't feel anything anymore. She just closed her eyes and went to sleep.  
  
When Alcazar was sure that Skye was asleep he turned to the doctor. "She was in pain." He accused the doctor.  
  
"You said that you needed something to give her that would get her into a hospital. That medicine only causes temporary muscle spasms. It won't hurt her. In fact the other injection completely eliminated her reaction to the first one."  
  
Alcazar nodded. "How long will she be out?"  
  
"A few hours. We will keep her out until we are done."  
  
"How long does the procedure take?"  
  
"An hour and a half."  
  
"Then it won't be necessary to give her another shot if you do the procedure now."  
  
"But it is necessary to do certain tests first."  
  
"Excuse me. I am paying your bills. I am the reason that you have had the opportunity to continue with this research for so long with unlimited funding. If you want that funding to continue, then you will do the procedure now. I don't want her to have anymore drugs pushed into her system than necessary."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Alcazar left the room as the doctor got to work.  
  
Two hours later, the doctor came out and turned to Alcazar.  
  
"You do know that this is a one shot deal. There will be no second chances."  
  
"Yes, you informed me of the risks when I first asked how the procedure would work."  
  
"There is a complication. She was already pregnant."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She is about two weeks along. We didn't find out until it was to late to stop the proceedings. If you had waited for the appropriate tests, then we would have already known this. Amazingly, the pregnancy seems to be stable. The lining we created worked better than expected. It enveloped the two-week foetus along with the one we implanted in her. With the lining she should go to term. However, when it comes time, they must come out by C-section. This procedure does not allow for regular childbirth. The womb will have to be removed."  
  
Alcazar was silently swearing. "Is there anyway to remove it without harming my child."  
  
"No. Like I told you, this will work one time and one time only. Now that it is implanted in her, it can't be removed without removing the entire womb. When it wrapped itself around the second infant, we got lucky. She wouldn't have been able to continue with the pregnancy if it hadn't."  
  
"How will the second child affect the pregnancy?"  
  
"We aren't completely certain. Twins will make it easier to explain why the babies will be coming early. Twins don't usually go to term. It will also help explain why she is getting bigger a couple of weeks earlier. I assume that you don't want her to know that they aren't both yours."  
  
Alcazar nodded.  
  
"There's no way to tell what other problems will come with this pregnancy until they happen. There are of course the usual precautions. She should avoid stress and should watch her diet. This is the first time that we used all these techniques together. Individually, they worked wonderfully, but this is the first time that we coordinated the techniques. When we planned this, no one took into account that there would be a second child. She should be monitored carefully. Are you planning to tell her right away?"  
  
"No, I have an arrangement with the other doctors. They already have the story down. I felt that it would be better to wait a few more weeks before letting her know that she is going to be a mother."  
  
"She needs prenatal vitamins."  
  
"I already have that covered. They are putting them in a special bottle. As far as she will know, it is her medication."  
  
"I suggest you add the special diet and avoiding stress to your plan."  
  
"I will see what I can arrange."  
  
Port Charles Hospital  
  
"Brenda thank you for coming in so quickly."  
  
"You said that you had some answers for me. Did the test come back early? You said that it would take at least a week."  
  
"That particular test will be a few more days. However, I also sent some blood down to the lab. They sent back some very unique results."  
  
"Oh God, I have something serious don't I. There is something else physically wrong with me."  
  
"No, physically your fine. In fact, you're in better shape than Brenda Barrett ever was.  
  
"Now I am confused. What do you mean, in better shape than Brenda Barrett ever was? I'm Brenda Barrett."  
  
"Not according to these test results, your not. To start with you have a completely different blood type."  
  
"Did the lab mix up the results?"  
  
"No, I checked into that. That isn't the only change. Your blood pressure is better. You're in better health than she ever was. Plus, I can tell you that you have had at least one child. Our best estimate was about six or seven years ago. It was delivered via c-section. You have had plastic surgery to cover the scar. You have also had some small alterations on your face. I can say with absolute certainty that you aren't Brenda Barrett."  
  
"Oh my God. I can't believe it."  
  
"If you want further confirmation, we can compare your dental records. We have them on file here. Miss Barrett's dentist works in this building."  
  
"No, no, I don' t think that it will be necessary. My dreams, they are really memories."  
  
"That would be my best guess. Whatever process that was used to make you believe that you were Brenda Barrett is breaking down. It is just a matter of time before you remember who you really are."  
  
"Is there any way to find out now? I don't want to wait. Somewhere out there, I have a family. Oh god, I have a daughter. How long have I been gone? What have I missed? How long ago did you say that I had her?"  
  
"Our guess was six or seven years."  
  
"Doctor I need to remember. I need to know where my child is."  
  
"Calm down. There are some things that can be done. You said that you saw your face in the mirror in the dream."  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Do you think that you could describe it to a sketch artists. We need a picture of who you were. From there it could be checked against all missing persons."  
  
"Where do I go to have this done?"  
  
"Well first we need to call the police and report this incident. Brenda Barrett was declared legally dead several years ago and I'm sure that the police are taking steps to reverse that statement. They need to know that what is happening. They know of several good sketch artists that can help us. From there they can check it against any missing persons."  
  
"Oh god, that could take forever. I saw a news report just the other day on how many people go missing ever year. What if they never find mine?"  
  
"First of all, I have every confidence that you will eventually remember. You told me that every time you dream, you remember more correct."  
  
She nodded. "Yes, I had been having the dream for a while before I saw my face in the mirror. With every dream, more details pop up."  
  
"I'm convinced that your memory is trying to break through. Given that whoever did this didn't take the time to switch your medical records, I don't believe that this was meant to last forever. During your examination, you told me that Alcazar kept you drugged the entire time you were on your boat."  
  
"Yes, I could barely move, much less think. I was confused all the time. Half the time, I couldn't remember who I was. Hell, now that I know that I'm not Brenda, I guess that I never remembered who I was. The rest of the time, I thought that I was Brenda."  
  
"That was either a part of the conditioning, or it was meant to stall the conditioning from wearing off. I know that waiting is hard. There is another option. You could hire a private investigator to find out who you are."  
  
"And pay them with what? If I'm not Brenda then I'm not even sure that I can pay you."  
  
"How have you been paying the bills so far?"  
  
"Jax has been paying for everything. Oh god. How do I tell Jax?" 


	4. chapter 4

Port Charles  
  
« Okay, I'm coming. » Felicia pulled herself away from the computer and went to answer the door. "Oh hi Brenda."  
  
"Hello Felicia. Can I come in?"  
  
"Sure. I heard that you where back and I have been meaning to come by to see you but I always seem to be so busy these days."  
  
Brenda and Felicia walked into the room and sat down in chairs facing each other. "That's okay. This isn't exactly a social call. Actually someone recommended at the police station that I might get faster results if I hire a private detective. You're the only one that I know, well sort of. I'm not really sure of what I actually know anymore. This entire situation is so completely crazy. I came here because this is hard enough without having to try to explain it to someone I don't know."  
  
"Okay. Brenda you need to tell me what the problem is. You were at the police station? Are you in some type of trouble?"  
  
"Not in the legal sense. I was in the missing persons section. After I got done with the sketch artist, they recommended that I try a private detective. They felt that in a situation like this, a detective might find my answers quicker."  
  
"Someone's missing and you want to hire me to find them."  
  
"Sort of. I need you to find me."  
  
"Okay. Now I'm confused."  
  
"I know that this is going to sound really funny. Maybe even a little bit nuts. I mean, I didn't believe it either until the doctor showed me the lab reports. Even then I hoped that they were wrong. But then I got down to the police station and they wouldn't believe me at first until they called the doctor at the hospital. Even then they took my fingerprints and compared then to the one's on file before they believed me. After that they questioned me to death, signed I don't know how many reports in triplicate, and turned me over to the sketch artist to try to come up with the picture of the person in my mind."  
  
"Brenda, what is it that they wouldn't believe."  
  
"That's just it. I'm not Brenda Barrett."  
  
"What! I think you better start at the beginning."  
  
"Well I have been having these dreams lately and they felt so much more real to me than reality that I went to see a doctor. He ran some tests. It turns out that I'm not Brenda Barrett. We have different blood types. There were several other distinguishing factors like the fact that I have gone through childbirth and plastic surgery to change some of the features on my face. Then I went to the police station and like I said they didn't really believe me until they compared my fingerprints to hers. The doctor thinks that my dreams are my memories trying to resurface and that in time I will remember who I am and where I came from. Maybe I would be content with that, except that in my dreams I have a family. Somewhere out there, I have a husband and child who are missing me. I need to find them."  
  
Felicia was completely silent for a moment. "Wow. You look like her. You even sound like her. You said that you had plastic surgery?"  
  
Brenda nodded. "Someone made slight alterations to my face. But in my dreams, I remember what I look like. As for sounding like her, she has been gone for how many years? Who would remember the exact tone of one's voice after that many years? I mean someone somehow managed to dump someone else's memories into my mind. That's something the doctors at GH are still trying to figure out. I guess someone's theory was that if I look like her and remember everything that was important that happened here, then everyone would take me for Brenda."  
  
"So you have all of Brenda's memories?"  
  
"No. That is part of what is so strange. I just have a few years of her memories. Before Port Charles, my memory is completely blank. I don't remember going to school. I don't know who her friends are. Hell, I didn't even know that Brenda Barrett had a sister until I saw the notation in her medical chart. Do you know how creepy that is? I was so focused on these memories that were implanted into my head somehow of Port Charles that I never even took the time to consider that I couldn't remember anything else. What kind of person doesn't realize that they don't remember growing up? That is 18 years that are just not there."  
  
"You said that you saw a sketch artist."  
  
"Yes I brought the picture he drew with me." She pulled it out and handed it to Felicia. "I know that it looks a lot like me."  
  
Felicia studied it for a moment. "Yes it does. There are just tiny changes between your face and the one in the picture."  
  
"I think that is why Alcazar chose me. Physically it probably didn't take that much to make me look like her."  
  
"What else can you tell me?"  
  
"Well, I have a daughter. If asked I think I could describe her to a sketch artist. She was the first thing that came to me in my dreams. I also have a husband, but I haven't seen his face in the dreams yet. I suppose that sooner or latter I will. I have only been seeing my face for about a week. I have a house in the country."  
  
"Can you describe the house?"  
  
"I think so. Or at least the backyard. I spent a lot of time there planting a flower garden. I can't remember ever being in the front of it in my dreams."  
  
"Do you have any idea where the house is?"  
  
"No, I'm sorry. Beyond that it is somewhere in the country side were it is nice and quiet, I really don't know."  
  
"That's fine. You have already given me a lot to start with. I want you to sit with a sketch artist again in order to give me a picture of your daughter and whatever you remember of the house. You said that you remember more each time that you dream?"  
  
"Each time I dream, it becomes more detailed."  
  
"That's good. I want you to keep a notebook and pen by your bed. Whenever you wake up I want you to write down whatever you remember. If by chance you can control parts of your dreams, try to walk near a calendar or a photo. Many people hang up calendars from local establishments. Those usually have a name and an address. A photo might give you a better idea of the location."  
  
"The doctor at the hospital already told me to write down anything I might remember. I'm not sure how much control I have in the dreams, but if I can, I will look."  
  
"One more thing, how is Jax handling this?"  
  
"Actually, I haven't told him yet. I know, he needs to be told. He deserves to be told. I just found out this morning. The hospital told me to go to the police station and the police told me to hire a detective so I came here. Besides, how do I tell him? I mean, I'm grateful that he took me in but I'm not the woman he fell in love with. Add the fact that he left his wife to be with a memory. How do I tell him the truth? He is going to hate me. I can't even begin to imagine the trouble he is going to have with his wife when he tries to go back to her."  
  
"You think that he will?"  
  
"Yes. That is what is really sick about this situation. He left her for the love of a memory, but he still loves his wife. I don't know. I think that everything is as screwed up in his head as it is in mine."  
  
"He loved Brenda."  
  
"No, he loved his memory of Brenda. And from everything I have been finding out about the woman today, his memory of her is a lot more perfect than the woman herself. She had flaws, but it has been so long that he has created this perfect image of her in his head. He has forgotten reality. Even if the real Brenda returned from the dead, she wouldn't be able to live up to the pedestal that man has put her on. However, here is this other woman. He loves her. But he can't seem to make himself understand how he could love someone with so many flaws when his first love was so perfect in his mind."  
  
"You have been thinking about this for awhile."  
  
"I have been living with Jax for a few weeks, but I stopped sleeping with him a few days after the dreams started. I could feel the difference between his touch and the touch of my husband in my dreams. It disturbed me."  
  
"So what are you going to tell Jax?" "I don't know. I really don't know."  
  
-----  
  
Private Hospital, Paris, France.  
  
'Oh God, I feel awful. Where the hell am I? The last thing that I remember was sitting at this little café drinking coffee and trading insults with the bane of my existence, then what? I felt this pain across my stomach. So I am where? A hospital?' Skye tried to force open her eyes. After a couple of tries, she succeeded. 'Well, it looks like a hospital room.' She started to take note of everything around her from the IV in her arm to the drab white walls. 'What the hell do they have me on? I have never felt so dizzy in my life.' When Skye tried to sit up she felt a stab of pain on the right side of her stomach. On closer inspection, she felt a bandage. 'Oh God, whatever it was must have been serious. Someone operated. If this is a hospital then they must have a call button or something to get someone's attention. They aren't about to leave a patient by themselves for very long.' After some searching, Skye found it tied near the IV and pushed the button.  
  
After seeing who walked in she wished that she had just played dead for a while longer. Figures he would be here. Why the hell does he have to be here? I'm really not in the mood to argue with him at the moment.  
  
"It is good to see you awake. You had me worried for a little while."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You apparently had a cyst on one of your ovaries that ruptured. The doctors had to go in to repair the damage. You were very lucky that I was there to get you to the hospital in time."  
  
"Thank you for your assistance. I don't suppose that there are any doctors around that could explain things to me in detail."  
  
"I'm sure that they are very busy, but for you, I will track the doctor down."  
  
Alcazar left the room and went up to the doctor waiting in the hall. "She is awake and asking questions."  
  
"Don't worry sir. I know what to say."  
  
"I'm paying you a lot of money. Do not screw this up."  
  
"Everything will go according to plan. No one is going to do anything to risk the sizable donations you promised us." The doctor entered Skye's room.  
  
"Bonsoir mademoiselle. It is good to see you awake. You had us worried. When they brought you in yesterday, you were quite ill."  
  
"I've been asleep for an entire day!"  
  
"Sleep is very good for healing."  
  
"What exactly happened?"  
  
"You were brought in with severe pains in the stomach and a fever. Apparently you had a cyst on one of your ovaries and we had to operate immediately."  
  
"The bandage." Skye reached down to feel the bandage over her lower stomach.  
  
"We will remove those in about five to seven days. You are a very lucky lady. The gentleman, who brought you in, insisted on the best to stitch you up. In a years time, the scar will be hardly noticeable."  
  
"Were there any complications?"  
  
"The operation was as you say picture perfect. It is a good thing to. I don't think that your boyfriend would have been happy if anything went wrong."  
  
"He is not my boyfriend. How long will I need to be here?"  
  
"We are going to keep you here for observation for about a week. The IV should come out in about three days. If everything heals appropriately, you may be able to leave in a week if you have the appropriate supervision. I am prescribing a mild antibiotic to help prevent infection and to help heal. I also am prescribing a special vitamin pill. I have been looking at your blood work and you are deficient in some areas that you need to help heal."  
  
"How long will I need the medication?"  
  
"The antibiotic is for two weeks. I may keep you on the vitamin pill a little longer. I have come up with a list of things I want you to avoid until you get better. Among those are alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine."  
  
"No more coffee?"  
  
"Only if it is decaffeinated. I will have my nurse issue a list of things to avoid."  
  
"So I can leave in a week."  
  
"I'm not giving you a clean bill of health. Your condition was quite serious when you were brought in. I will clear you to leave in a week under certain conditions. First, you need to avoid stress. Stress is very bad for healing. No exercise. The most I want to hear of you doing is walking between the bed, the bathroom and the couch. Basically, when we let you out of here in a week, you are to be shamelessly pampered."  
  
"In other words, bored to tears."  
  
"I will also set up an appointment for a week after your released and perhaps the week after that. We want to make sure that you heal properly."  
  
"I appreciate your concern."  
  
"Now I believe the gentleman outside your room would like to see you."  
  
"I thought you said that you wanted me to avoid stress."  
  
"How could such a concerned handsome man cause stress? Besides, he hasn't left the clinic since he brought you in. Plus he has arranged for your private room and has already taken care of all your medical expenses."  
  
"Trust me. If you knew him like I know him, you would find his presence very stressful. All right. Send him in. He probably won't leave until I tell him to get out anyway."  
  
"I'm sure he will be very happy to see you doing so well." The doctor turned around and left the room. Once outside the room, he nodded to Alcazar and walked away.  
  
Alcazar entered Skye's room. "So, the doctors tell me that you must pamper yourself when you leave here. I know of this wonderful little spa outside of Paris."  
  
"Luis, stop. While I'm very grateful that you got me to the hospital, I would like to make my own arrangements for where I will be staying when I leave here."  
  
"Of course. How thoughtless of me. I have been so worried that I have forgotten how independent you like to be. So where do you plan to go? Just tell me where you would prefer to recuperate and I will make the arrangements. Anyplace your heart desires."  
  
"I want to go back to my apartment."  
  
"An apartment all by yourself is not what I had in mind. The doctor said that you were to be pampered. How can you be pampered if you're all by yourself? Who will take care of you?"  
  
"Actually the silence would be very nice."  
  
"You would be bored before the first day was over with."  
  
"If I promise to hire someone, will you go away?"  
  
"A nurse. An excellent idea. I will arrange it for you right away." Alcazar took off out the door.  
  
"Luis that's not what I meant." 'Not that it seems to matter. That man only hears what he wants to anyway.' 


	5. chapter 5

There isn't much to do in a hospital. Maybe that's why I started reflecting on the past. I still vaguely remember the first time that I met Luis Alcazar. Of course he wasn't using that name then. What was he calling himself back then? Oh yes, Jack Morris. One of his more ordinary names. In the time that I have known him, he has used at least of dozen aliases that I know about and probably a dozen more that I don't.  
  
Funny, there wasn't anything unusual about that day. I don't know why I thought there should have been. A thunderstorm perhaps, or a flash of lightening streaking across the sky, like in the stories that one reads. There should have been some sign, some indication that something dark, dangerous and slightly evil was entering our lives. But there wasn't any signs. The gods didn't send down so much as a hint that we would be meeting someone who would consistently be tearing my life apart over and over again. Every time I tried to rebuild it, he shows up and tears what little I have left of my life apart. People keep asking why I hate him. All they see is the man who would give me anything. They don't get to see his other side. The side of him that I know only to well. The psychotically crazy side he uses to justify every thing that he does. It is never his fault. In his mind, if he has to kill, beat up, or manipulate someone, it is always because someone else pushed him to do it.  
  
The day I met him, it was a clear beautiful day. I was still married to my first husband, Tom. Tom and I had been shopping. He told be to buy a new dress because he was taking me out on the town for a night to dinner and dancing. He had heard of a new club and he wanted to try it out. I had dressed to dazzle my husband. It worked. Tom was so dazzled that we were extremely late getting to the club. The place was packed. Tom had made reservations, but they must have gotten lost, because someone had taken our table. Tom went to talk to someone about getting us another table. I was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for Tom, when someone bumped into me from behind. I nearly toppled down the stairs when that same person grabbed me around the waist holding me up until I regained my balance.  
  
I started to turn around, slightly annoyed that someone had nearly pushed me down the stairs and grateful that they had the sense to keep me from falling.  
  
"I'm sorry." I heard him whispered in my ear as I turned around.  
  
As I turned around, I swore he was going to say more, but he just stopped talking. He didn't just stop talking, I swore he stopped breathing. I was actually quite flattered in a way. It was the first time that anyone was truly breathless at the sight of me.  
  
"You are very possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." I could tell that for him it wasn't just a pickup line. He truly meant it.  
  
"Thank you for not letting me fall. You can let go now."  
  
He reluctantly took his hands away. Just then my husband walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. The man in front of me was obviously disappointed to find that I wasn't alone. With a grin, Tom said, "Should I be jealous?"  
  
I smiled and teased, "perhaps. Tom, I would like you to meet, I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."  
  
"My name is Jack Morris. Your name is?"  
  
"My name is Skye. Tom, this is Jack Morris. Jack this my husband Tom. Jack just saved me from falling down the stairs."  
  
Tom turned to Jack and shook his hand. "Thank you for stepping in and saving my lady."  
  
"Your wife is to kind. Especially since I'm the reason that she almost fell down the stairs."  
  
Tom turned to me and said, "I'm afraid that I couldn't get us a table for another hour. Do you want to wait or go somewhere else?"  
  
I smiled at Tom and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I guess that teaches us not to get so distracted."  
  
Tom nuzzled my neck. "I wouldn't mind a little more of that particular type of distraction."  
  
Jack interrupted us. "If you wouldn't mind sharing and perhaps a little competition for your wife's attention for an hour or so, you may join my table."  
  
Tom smiled at me and asked, "What do you think?"  
  
"Well he seems harmless enough."  
  
"It is the least I can do, after nearly pushing your wife down the stairs."  
  
"Thank you. I believe that we will accept your invitation."  
  
"The table is in this direction."  
  
It had actually been a pleasant evening. Jack made a wonderful dinner companion. He even paid for the bill. When we went home that night, I had no clue that that evening was the start of an obsession that would slowly ruin my life. --------  
  
Back in Port Charles  
  
"Ned, I need to find Skye," Jax said as he walked into the room.  
  
"For god's sake why? Didn't you just divorce her? Be grateful that she didn't make an annoyance of herself and move on."  
  
"Ned, Do you have any idea where she is? I checked the house. She isn't there and neither are her suitcases. Did she tell anyone in the family where she was going?"  
  
Ned looked at Jax, slightly annoyed, "I haven't a clue where she is. I just considered myself lucky that I haven't had to deal with her lately."  
  
"Ned, I don't get it. What is it about Skye that bothers you so much?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious? My cousin can't be trusted, she is a seasoned liar, manipulator and backstabber."  
  
"And how does this makes her different from the rest of your family?"  
  
"Very funny Jax."  
  
"I'm serious. What exactly has Skye done that is so different from the rest of the family?"  
  
"She blackmailed grandfather. She manipulated everyone so she could get the votes to take over ELQ."  
  
"So what? It's not like you haven't blackmailed the old man from time to time. And how many times over the years have you and AJ made a play for ELQ? The only difference that I'm seeing here is that she succeeded where you and AJ failed."  
  
"Are you forgetting that she made a deal with grandfather to bankrupt you?"  
  
Jax smiled. "Nope. Right about now I'm betting that she wishes that she had gone through with it rather than marry me."  
  
"She didn't tell you that Brenda isn't dying."  
  
"Yes, and looking back on that, considering that I ran out the door not long after finding out that Brenda wasn't dying, I can see her point for not telling me."  
  
"Do you need me to hit you again in order to knock some sense into you?"  
  
"Nope, I think I'm finally coming to my senses and I need to find Skye."  
  
"Why? You're with Brenda now. You do remember Brenda don't you? My best friend, the love of your life, the woman you are currently living with."  
  
"Correction. Your best friend, the former love of my life and I moved out this morning."  
  
"You what? What did Brenda say? Did you argue? Now don't do anything rash that you're going to regret."  
  
"I already did something rash that I regret. I abandoned my wife for the memory of a love that doesn't exist anymore."  
  
"Jax you have loved Brenda for years."  
  
"Loved as in past tense. Something that happened and is over now."  
  
"What about Brenda?"  
  
"I don't think that this is exactly going to come as a shock to here. We barely touch. We haven't made love since that first night. You want to know what? I haven't wanted to make love to her since that night. From the way that she has been acting, I think that she feels the same way. We may occupy the same house but we are living two separate lives. We barely even talk to each other. "  
  
"What did Brenda say?"  
  
"I'm still trying to find her. She left this morning for some appointment and she hasn't turned her phone on yet. I'm going to stop by the cabin and see if she has arrived yet."  
  
"Your going after Skye, aren't you?"  
  
"Just as soon as I can figure out where she is."  
  
"Your crazy. You know that don't you. You left her two weeks ago. You got a slightly illegal divorce one week ago. And now you want her back. You do know that she is very probably extremely pissed at you and will probably slam the door in your face."  
  
"I know."  
  
"She is going to make your life a living hell. I really can't say that I will blame her for it."  
  
"I know that too."  
  
Ned shook his head. He knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Have you tried AJ? He is probably the only one in the family that she talks to on a regular basis."  
  
"He won't talk to me. I was hoping that maybe he had spoken with someone in the family?"  
  
Ned sighed. "I'll talk to the family. Maybe Alan will know where she went."  
  
"Thanks Ned."  
  
"Hey, If your determined to turn your life into a living hell, then who am I to stop you?"  
  
After leaving Ned's, Jax went to the cabin to talk to Brenda. As he pulled in he saw Brenda's car. As he walked in the door, he prayed that he was right about Brenda not wanting him anymore. As much as he new that they couldn't continue in their present situation, he also didn't want to have to hurt her anymore than necessary. This situation was his fault. He screwed up and hurt his wife in the process. In the process, he made promises to Brenda. Promises that Jax knew he couldn't keep.  
  
When Jax walked in the door, he saw Brenda sitting on the couch. She looked up as he came in the room.  
  
"We need to talk." They said simultaneously.  
  
They looked at each other in amazement. Brenda said, "Why don't I go first?"  
  
Jax nodded.  
  
"I noticed that you moved your things out of the house. I'm hoping that that means you are breaking things off."  
  
Jax breathed a sigh of relief. "You want the same thing. For us to break up."  
  
Brenda looked up at him slightly nervously. "Let's just say that your moving out makes what I have to say to you a little bit easier."  
  
"Brenda, you don't have to worry about money. I have set up an account and you can stay here for as long as you need to."  
  
"Jax," she interrupted. "You really need to sit down and hear what I have to say."  
  
Jax just kept talking. "And I will even put the cabin in your name if you want."  
  
"I'm not Brenda!" She blurted out.  
  
Jax looked at her like she was insane.  
  
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. I went to the doctor because of some dreams that I have been having. Than ran some tests. I don't know who I am yet, but we have medical proof that I'm not Brenda."  
  
Jax sat down in shock. "You look like her. You sound like her. You even have our memories."  
  
"My blood type is different. I have had some plastic surgery to make me look like her. The police ran my fingerprints. I'm definitely not her."  
  
"Your memories?"  
  
"We aren't completely certain how that was done yet. I only have memories of those years that I or rather she was here in Port Charles. It was some sort of brainwashing technique. The doctor here is going to help me try to recover my real memories. The police are working on who I might be so I can go home where I belong."  
  
"How?" Jax got up suddenly angry. "Why? Why did someone bring you here as Brenda? What the hell did they hope to gain?"  
  
"It wasn't just someone who brought me to Port Charles. Alcazar brought me here. After the police finally believed me, they brought out a file on him. Apparently brainwashing isn't beyond his capabilities. As for why? I've been slowly putting that together."  
  
"What conclusions have you come to?"  
  
"When I first got here, I was extremely drugged out and confused. I had two main thoughts. One was how much I loved you and the other was how much I loved Sonny."  
  
"You aren't Brenda. How can you say that you loved either of us?" Jax shouted. His frustration was beginning to show.  
  
"The idea was implanted in my head."  
  
"Sonny was the target. He blew up his warehouse."  
  
"No, He wanted Sonny dead. I know this may sound nuts but I think that you were the target the entire time."  
  
Jax started to say something but she interrupted. "Hear me out. Let's say for a moment that I was implanted with some of Brenda's memories, but he couldn't direct which memories where in my head. Brenda loved both you and Sonny. So in order to get me to go to you, he had to get rid of Sonny so I couldn't go to him. So he blackmailed someone to kill Sonny. After I thought Sonny was gone, I ran to you."  
  
"There is one flaw in your logic. Alcazar shot me."  
  
"Yes, but only after my presence didn't get him what he wanted."  
  
"What exactly was he after? This entire time we thought he was after you."  
  
"Yes, but if it was me that he wanted, why has he left town? He didn't go through all the trouble of brainwashing me to simple give up? Yet you and Sonny are still here and as far as I know you both still have all your territories and other various assets. I would bet anything that the reason Alcazar isn't here is because whatever he was really after isn't here anymore."  
  
"Dear God, Skye isn't here."  
  
"Alcazar disappeared at the same time that Skye did. I'm betting that it's not a coincidence. Plus is makes sense. He was counting on you leaving her for me and when you didn't, he shot you. He knew I wasn't ill. There was no way that I could be. I'm not Brenda. I'm betting that he new that Skye would start digging."  
  
"He created a scenario where I would catch her in a lie. God that's funny. After all the crap that I pulled after we were married. I left her because of a lie. That bastard killed an innocent woman, started a turf war with a local gangster and stole from me. Oh God, if he has been after Skye this entire time."  
  
"Skye is probably still in danger." 


	6. chapter 6

'Oh god', Skye thought. 'If I have to listen to one more verse about how wonderful Luis Alcazar is or how grateful I should be to him for all his help, I think I will scream. Or better yet, maybe I will just strangle the nurse, slowly. This is my own fault. I encouraged her to speak her mind. Looking back, the first couple of days with this little idiot wasn't really that bad. When I first arrived at the apartment and met the woman that Alcazar had hired to help me out for a couple of weeks, why is he inflicting this little creature onto me? She was a small mousy sort of person. She is easily bossed around, painfully shy, and is more comfortable reading books in some quiet corner than conversing with people. I wonder where in the world he managed to dig her up. The first couple of days, she jumped whenever I asked her to do something. If the girl had an original thought in her head, after two days in her company, I hadn't found it. She agreed with everything I said. So after two days of her company, I was bored out of my mind. The only reason that I was still following the doctor's orders was because I was too sore to move about on my own.  
  
Given that I couldn't get up and leave without help yet, I made a grave error in judgement. I decided to try to relieve the boredom by encouraging this shy little creature to say something besides yes miss. It took a couple of days of pretending interest in whatever it was she was reading, but on the forth day I was finally rewarded for my persistence. She started telling me about where she worked before this. Apparently she took care of some elderly couples. She cooked, cleaned and made sure that they took their medication. Not a very exciting life, but after being stuck in an apartment for four days with the woman, it was definitely an improvement over hearing her say yes miss all the time.  
  
On the fifth day, I had somehow come to the conclusion that she needed to be more assertive. I started this assertiveness training by trying to get her to express her opinion, well, on anything. It wasn't easy at first. I had trouble just getting the woman to tell me what kind of food she preferred. I really should have stopped there. But you know what they say about idyll hands. I couldn't just leave well enough alone. By the end of the next day, much to my horror, I had created a monster. The girl talked non-stop. But that wasn't the real problem. This little mouse had a crush on her employer, Luis Alcazar. So for the last day and a half, I have had to listen to how wonderful Luis is, how romantic he is, how handsome he is, and it went on and on and on. If I had known at the beginning of the week that she would turn into a walking advertisement for the bastard, I might have turned around and checked myself back into the hospital. Since Luis hired her, she won't leave. I've told the girl that she was fired twice. What the hell was I thinking when I taught her to be more assertive? If I had told her to get out at the beginning of the week, she probably would have broken down in tears and ran out the door. Of course, Luis would have just replaced her with someone else.  
  
I really cannot go on like this. One more week with this woman and swear to god, I will go suicidal. I swear that this woman's chatter is making me ill. That's when the idea came to me. I've got to get away. Not just away from this woman, but from the entire insane situation. But where the hell can I go? It would have to be somewhere that I haven't been before. I can't go to anyone I know to help me out. The second I disappear, the first thing he will do is check with everyone I know.  
  
How do I get away? I can't just walk out the door. His goons are there. That's basically the reason that I'm still stuck in this gilded prison. Just wait, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. They have to let me out to go to the clinic. This won't be easy. Knowing Luis, he probably has the staff bribed to call him over every little detail. So I can't ask for help, chances are that whomever I asked would call him and let him know what I am doing. So whatever I do, I have to do it by myself.  
  
Oh god, what am I going to do for money? All I have are my credit cards. If I use those, it will be like leaving a trail for him to follow. I need to get to a bank. As long as Alcazar's goons are out there, there isn't any chance of that happening anytime soon. I need cash. I will need a lot of it if I plan to move around for long without leaving a paper trail. How and the hell am I going to get my hands on that kind of cash?'  
  
-------  
  
"It has been two weeks, and I haven't been able to find any sign of Skye." Jax said as he paced across the room. "It is like she dropped off the face of the planet two weeks ago. One day she was checked into a hotel in Paris and the next she was missing. All of her things were packed up and taken to some undisclosed location and her bill was paid in full."  
  
Ned looked at Jax with an expression that bordered on pity. "Skye lives on her credit cards. Surely she charged something somewhere?"  
  
"I would feel better if she would. That's how I found her hotel in Paris. If she would just charge something somewhere, at least I would know that she was okay. For the last two weeks, she hasn't used her credit cards even once. I know. I bribed the people at the credit card company to call me with a location the second she does use one. The fact that she hasn't used her credit cards wouldn't worry me so much if I thought she had any cash on her. She doesn't carry a lot of cash and she didn't make any withdrawals before she disappeared."  
  
"Skye is a survivor Jax. One way or another she will find a way to take care of herself. Have you tried her other family? Maybe she borrowed the money from Adam."  
  
"I already thought of that. I'm not getting much of a response form the Chandlers. The first couple of times that I called them, I got her little brother. He just hung up on me as soon as I said my name. The third time I called, I talked to someone called Halley. All she had to say was something to the extent of why in the hell do I care? I divorced her. As far as Halley was concerned, that was it. When I finally did get a hold of Adam, he wasn't even aware that Skye had gotten married much less a divorce. He didn't seem overly concerned. All he said was that Skye had a way of landing on her feet."  
  
"They could be covering up helping her with an act of indifference. That is what Grandfather does whenever he doesn't want anyone to know what he is up to. The old Bastard just acts like he doesn't give a damn."  
  
"I thought of that. But my sources say that she hasn't contacted them. I hired a couple of PI's. They both say that it is unlikely that she will go to anyone for help unless she is really desperate. Even then they aren't sure what she will do. Skye is to damn independent for her own good."  
  
"Well I'm sure that I'm not the first to say that Skye can me a pain in the ass."  
  
"Ned, you're not helping."  
  
"Look, you know that two weeks ago she was in Paris. There hasn't been any indication that she has left. Why don't you just go there and look for her?"  
  
"There also hasn't been any sign that she is still there. If Alcazar has her, he could have taken her anywhere."  
  
"Jax, if you think that Alcazar has her, then follow his people. If it is true that Alcazar was really after Skye, then wouldn't it be logical that he would try to keep her close."  
  
"Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Jax picked up his phone, called his detectives and told then to pick up Alcazar's trail.  
  
"You are that sure that Alcazar is after Skye? I mean, the idea that the guy paid a lot of money just to get to one woman is a little far fetched."  
  
"You believed it when we thought that it was Brenda he was after. Why not Skye? Ned, you should really go by and talk to Brenda. I am only using that name because she hasn't remembered her own name yet. Every day that goes by, she remembers more about what happened on that boat. The more she remembers, the more worried I get. According to Brenda, this Alcazar character was counting on me running to Brenda and abandoning Skye the second that I laid eyes on her."  
  
"If you ask me, he wasn't to far off the mark. Hey don't shoot the messenger. I'm not the one that lied to Skye and set your ex-lover up in a cabin in the same town as your wife. I stand by you because you are my friend. If you weren't my best friend and if I had been closer to my cousin, I would have beat the crap out of you for the way you treated her."  
  
Jax looked at Ned in amazement. "You encouraged me to go after Brenda."  
  
"Well lucky for you, you are my best friend and I can barely stand Skye. But if she makes you happy, I will find a way to put up with her. After all, I put up with a lot worse with the rest of my family. If I were you, when you do find her, I wouldn't expect it to be easy."  
  
"I know. This Alcazar is going to put up one hell of a fight."  
  
"I wasn't talking about Alcazar. With the way Skye cleared out of here, I expect that the woman probably hates your guts about right now. Or are you forgetting that you left her and divorced her for Brenda."  
  
"But I was tricked. She didn't turn out to be Brenda."  
  
"Do you really thing that that is going to matter to Skye? Trick or not, the fact is, you left her for another woman. Somehow, I don't think my cousin is the kind of woman who just forgives and forgets."  
  
"I'm going to fight for her. I don't care what it takes."  
  
"For your sake, I hope you do get her back. Quite frankly, I'm sure glad that I'm not in your shoes." 


	7. Chapter 7

Skye was surprised the next day when Alcazar didn't come to take her to the clinic himself. After the lengths he had gone to create such a luxurious prison for her to recuperate in, she had expected him to show up and gloat that for the moment he had her under his thumb and there wasn't anything she could do about it. A cage, that is what this apartment is. Sure it had every luxury imaginable. Skye couldn't exactly say that she had been mistreated. Alcazar had provided a television with a hundred or so channels. The library held all of her favorite authors. The walls of the rooms were lined with paintings from her favorite artists. The bathroom even came complete with a whirlpool tub and sauna. If things were enough to keep Skye happy, this place would have had everything she needed to keep her entertained.  
  
Unfortunately, reading, watching TV and starring at paintings can get boring very quickly when that is all one has to do all day. That's when she noticed the little things, like no telephone or internet access, the bars over the windows, and the two goons stationed at her front door al all times to keep her from going out.  
  
In her need to talk to someone, she tried to draw the mouse, as she had come to think of the nurse that Alcazar inflicted on her, into a conversation. Skye suspected that the reason he placed the woman here was to make her grateful when Alcazar did show up. If that was the case, it was working. She would prefer to exchange insults with the bastard than listen to another word that came out of the mouse's mouth.  
  
After one week of this, Skye had had enough. One way or another, she was getting out and she was doing it today. It's not like she needed anymore medical care. She had all the medications that the doctor had given her. After one week in the hospital and one week locked in this apartment, except for felling slightly ill when she first woke up in the mornings, she felt fine. Skye was sure that the ill feeling in her stomach had more to do with the prospect of having to spend more time locked in this cage than an actual illness. Skye had prescribed her own cure, escaping at all costs.  
  
That morning, Skye dressed in a couple of layers of clothes. She knew that when the chance came along, she wouldn't be able to take anything with her. All She would have is the clothes on her back. The thought of having so little was slightly unsettling to someone who had always been surrounded by luxuries, but the idea of staying here and waiting for Alcazar's next move scared her even more.  
  
For money, Skye carefully rolled up some of her jewellery. She took out a jacket that had a fleece lining that could be removed so the jacket could be worn year round. She unzipped the lining, and placed her jewellery, passport and credit cards into it. This time of year, it was still cool enough in Paris that no one would question the need for a jacket. The medications, she placed in her purse. Skye was ready to go. Now all she needed was an opportunity.  
  
---  
  
Luis Alcazar frowned unhappily at the man in front of him. The man stood there nervously looking for a means of escaping should Alcazar take his current displeasure out on him. Under other circumstances, he might have found this man's attitude amusing. After all this man was one of his bodyguards. The guard was a foot taller than Alcazar and built like a WWF wrestler. Physically he could take just about anyone on.  
  
"What the hell do you mean that she's gone?" Alcazar yelled. "How the hell could you loose her? I had two guards on her at all times and she was in a clinic were everyone worked for me."  
  
"Apparently she went down the fire escape when the doctor gave her some privacy to change."  
  
Alcazar swore. "How the hell did she end up in a room with an access to the fire escape?"  
  
"Technically, the room didn't have direct access. The fire escape was one floor down. She ripped the curtain off the wall and used it as a rope to lower herself down. We searched the immediate grounds but there wasn't any sign of her."  
  
"Spread the search out to include all of her favorite haunts in Paris. Have someone keep an eye on her credit card accounts. She doesn't' have much cash. She will have to use them sooner or later."  
  
"Sir, I don't understand. Why did you let her keep her credit cards if you planned to keep her locked up?"  
  
"For a situation just like this, of course. Even if she didn't have the cars, she would have tried to escape. The cards just will make it easier to track and recapture her."  
  
"Sir, we have picked up inquiries to your whereabouts. They are coming from Jasper Jax. Our sources say that he knows that you are in Paris and he is on his way here. They also say that he has people monitoring Miss Skye's credit card activities also. He is looking for her."  
  
"Damn. My impostor's conditioning must have broken down. Have him followed. If he finds Skye first, kill him and bring her to me."  
  
"I thought that you didn't want to turn Mr Jacks into a martyr in Skye's eyes."  
  
"My child is growing inside of her alongside that Jackass's kid. The entire field of this game has changed. It is time to get rid of the competition."  
  
"Yes, sir. Do you want me to take him out now?"  
  
"No, He could turn out to be useful in finding Skye. Track his movements and bug his phone. Don't do anything until we have Skye back."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
---  
  
When the idea first came to Skye, she thought that she was nuts. It was too simple. No one would believe that Skye Chandler Quartermaine would climb out a window and lower myself to the fire escape a story below. Surely, they would find her. But she didn't have any better ideas and who knew if another opportunity would come along. So Skye tied the curtains together. First she tied one end to the bar at the bottom of the window and then she threw the other end out. Next, Skye jumped in to the closet and closed the door.  
  
Skye couldn't believe it. They actually fell for it. Skye stood absolutely still as the doctor called the guards into the room. She waited holding her breath. She was sure that one of them would figure out that there was no way in hell that she would risk climbing down on such flimsy material, much less have the time to get away. At any moment, Skye expected one of them to say, 'search the room.'  
  
But they didn't. The next thing she knew, they were ordering security and any other free personnel to go outside to help with the search. After about twenty minutes, Skye began to feel suffocated in that tiny space and decided to risk leaving her hiding spot. She couldn't leave the hospital yet. After all, everyone was outside of the building, looking for her. So Skye found an empty supply closet and went in. While there, she borrowed a doctor's coat and hid her hair under a surgical cap. Now she just had to find a place to wait until the search outside died down.  
  
Slowly, Skye opened the door. When she saw that the hallway was clear, she left the closet and cautiously walked down the hall. As she neared the corner, she heard two people casually sue her name in conversation, walking in her direction. Skye quickly backed up a few steps, slipped into an empty office and locked the door. To her horror, she listened as one of the men tried to turn the doorknob, and then swear as he mumbled something about how he must have forgotten that he locked the door. Skye could hear the clink of the keys as he unlocked the door. The only piece of furniture in the damn room that was large enough to hide behind was the desk. Skye quickly hid herself under it and sent a silent prayer out to every god that she could think of that they would stay on the other side of that desk.  
  
She could hear her heart pounding as they opened the door and walked in. As one of the men opened the closet door and hung up his coat, she thanked the stars that she didn't try that hiding spot again.  
  
"So how far do you think she will get George?"  
  
"It's hard to say. Alcazar will turn over every rock that he can find in order to get her back, especially now."  
  
"Ordinarily, I would wish the woman luck. That bastard is absolutely insane."  
  
"I know. When he first came to me and offered to fund all of this, he made it sound like he and his wife wanted to have a kid. Now I find out that not only is she not married to him, she doesn't like the guy and she doesn't have a clue that he had her impregnated."  
  
"You should have seen Alcazar's face when I informed him that Miss Chandler was already pregnant and that the lining had enveloped the child in her womb and the one we implanted in her. He was going to order us to abort the entire pregnancy until I reminded him that here wouldn't be any second chances. We either go with this pregnancy, or she won't have a baby. He was pissed."  
  
"I know. That same day, he made arrangements for when the babies are born. He wants her sedated. He wants the children tested before she comes to. He plans to get rid of the other child and tell her that it died."  
  
"I wouldn't put it past the bastard to kill the child himself then tell her that it didn't make it."  
  
"If they don't find her soon, that won't matter."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"The lining is only stable as long as she takes the medication. Once she stops, the womb will need to be removed within a week or it will kill her."  
  
"My God! And she doesn't have a clue? But surely she will just get her prescription refilled."  
  
"You don't actually think that we wrote what was in the bottle on the bottle do you? Those bottles say that she is taking antibiotics and vitamin pills. The only place you can find the real prescription is in this file."  
  
A third man walked into the room. "Hey guys. They called off the search off the immediate area. The girl has had an hour and a half to get away. We figure that she's a long way from this place by now. I don't know about you two, but I could use a drink."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
As the three left the room, Skye felt the tears rolling down her face. It was all that she could do to choke back a sob. 'My God. I'm going to have a baby. Jax's baby. Oh god and Alcazar's baby. That bastard. I wonder when the hell he planned to let me in on what he had done. Would he have really gotten rid of Jax's baby after I had carried the baby to term? Yes. There isn't a doubt in my mind that he would have killed the child. It wouldn't have been the first time. Ben, my third husband, married me because I was pregnant. Then he divorced me after the so-called accident that caused my miscarriage. No one believed me when I said that it wasn't an accident. They said I was just grieving for my lost child. I knew better. Alcazar had the nerve to send me a letter of apology that stated that he was sorry but he couldn't allow me to risk my life carrying another man's child. He even had gone on to say that the only child that I would ever have would he his.'  
  
Skye reached down and soothed a hand over her stomach. No wonder she had been feeling ell the last couple of days. 'Oh God, two babies, the stakes have just been raised. It is more important now to get out than ever.' Skye eased out from under the desk. She reached for the file with her name on it. 'Nice of him to leave it out for me.' Skye pulled the papers out of the file, folded it in half and stuffed it in the purse with her medication.  
  
Then Skye went to the closet, grabbed the doctor's coat and scarf and put it on. With her clothes covered with the doctor's long coat and her hair and face partially hidden with the scarf, Skye walked out the front door of the clinic. No one even looked at her twice.  
  
---  
  
Skye walked for two blocks when she realized exactly where she was. She was in Bercy on the edge of Paris. A century or so ago, it was an old wine district. All these little buildings used to be part of a major wine factory. Back in the days when wine was stored in huge barrels rather than battled up for resale, this is where the barrels were stored. Of course, the sine company had left long ago, but the buildings still remained. Someone had refurnished them and now it was a quaint little shopping district. I quickly ran through it to the underground metro stop that I knew was on the other side. Metro stop Cour St-Emilion. I didn't bother with the metro ticket. I just waited until someone went through, jumped over the turn wheel and bolted through the door like I had seen other do when they didn't have the money. Paris has a wonderful metro system. For 1,30 Euro, you can enter this underground train system and latterly go anywhere. This underground travel system is so large and complex that travels can find shops, restaurants, grocery stores, souvenir shops, gypsies, beggars and entertainers in its various passageways. It is like entering a small underground world that at times is busier than the one up above it. As Skye travelled through the various passageways and changed trains, she dropped the doctor's coat and scarf for one of the beggars to find. Then she headed toward a place where she knew that she could pawn her jewellery quickly.  
  
Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, a flea market by the metro stop Porte de Clignancourt. Now this flea market is on the north side of Paris and it isn't a place that Skye would ordinarily recommend carrying valuables into. In fact, normally she would advise anyone going there to watch their wallet. But she didn't have time to worry about that today. She needed money, lots of it, and this was the fastest way to get it.  
  
Skye went straight to the pawnbroker and offloaded her jewellery for a lot less than they were worth. After exchanging her clothes at another stall, she started to consider the problem of how to get out of Paris. There are four major train stations and two airports in Paris and she was sure that Alcazar had his men covering all of them, just like she knew that he would be monitoring her credit card transactions. Suddenly Skye started to smile. She had a sure means of getting Alcazar's men out of the airports.  
  
Carefully, so no one could see what she was doing, Skye pulled out one of her credit cards and stuck it into a more accessible pocket. Then she started to walk slowly through the flea market. By the time she got to the other side, the Credit Card was long gone. Skye laughed. Someone was going to have fun charging things around Paris with that card. Once someone started charging on that card, Alcazar would have all of his men combing the area looking for her. She almost wished that she could see the look on their faces when they finally figure out that they are tracking a pickpocket instead of her.  
  
Skye waited about an hour. She was sure that the pickpocket wouldn't wait long to use the card out of fear that the card would be cancelled. She wasn't about to cancel that card. Whatever the thief charges to that account before Alcazar's men get their hands on the culprit will be a small price to pay for getting away.  
  
Skye walked into the airport, walked to the counter and paid for her ticket in cash. Fifteen minutes later, one Toni Calloway, as she was registered in the flight manifest, was boarding a plane for Seville, Spain. 


	8. Chapter 8

Timothy Killinger, 15 years old and light of hand, ran through the streets with his latest prize. 'Some dumb tourist, he thought, 'I wish that there were more like her.' Timmy had lived on the streets most of his life. No one paid much attention to him. He wasn't a French citizen. His family had emigrated here five years ago and mostly they spent their time trying not to be noticed by the local authorities. His father sold trinkets to the tourists who waited in line at the base of the Eiffel tower while his mother set up a stand at the flee market and sold traditional foods from their homeland. 'Homeland, Ha.' Timmy had been known to say. Timmy didn't have a clue where that so-called homeland was. He had spent his entire life growing up in the streets. His parents barely brought in enough to keep a roof over their heads. The furniture in their small apartment was put together from pieces others had thrown out. For food, they ate whatever was leftover from his mother's stand. It was Timmy's quick fingers that supplied all the comforts of home. It was the ignorant tourists that left their valuables in exposed pockets that supplied the cash.  
  
Timmy already had a use for his latest prize. He had been eyeing this stereo all month. If he moved quick enough, he might be able to buy it and get it out of the store before the lady noticed that her credit card was gone. He knew just the store to go to. It was large and extremely busy. So busy that people rarely took the time to ask for ID.  
  
Timmy ran into Printemps, grabbed the stereo and a few CD's and made his way to the cash register. Ten minutes later, he left the building with his latest purchase and moved on to the next store. He would keep up this pattern of running into a store, grabbing what he wanted and then charging it to the card until they either cut up the card because it was reported stolen or he reached it's credit limit. Either way, the worst that had ever happened to him in the past was that he would have to run out of the store and leave the credit card behind.  
  
--  
  
"Sir, there has been a hit on the card."  
  
Alcazar smiled like a cat with a bowl of cream. "I knew it. She lives on those credit cards. After all these years, she has never learned to live without them. We have her now. Where is she shopping at?"  
  
"Printemps."  
  
"Shit. That place is huge."  
  
"Yes sir, four buildings eight stories high."  
  
"With the size of that place, she probably thinks that she can hide in the crowds. Send al the men there. I want them to set up a perimeter to search the crowds. Don't let her get away."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
--  
  
Jasper Jacks had just finished taxing his airplane off the runway in Paris when his cell phone rang. Ned's advice to track Alcazar had paid off. His people had located Alcazar in Paris. Jax didn't believe that it was a coincidence that he just happened to be residing in the same apartment that Skye had been paying for before she disappeared. After reading that piece of intel, he immediately had his plane made ready for a flight to Paris.  
  
"Jax speaking."  
  
"Jax this is Chris."  
  
Jax's expression became very serious as he listened to his PI. "What have you found out?"  
  
"I've got good news and bad news."  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"Well the good news is that there has been a hit on one of Skye's credit cards here in Paris."  
  
"And the bad news?"  
  
"Well I'm not so sure that it is really bad news. It's more like a mixed bag of nuts."  
  
"Just spit it out Chris."  
  
"Well the hit was at a major shopping center called Printemps. Ten minutes later just about every man that works for Alcazar in Paris descended upon the place looking for her. So I figure that there is both good and bad news in that move. The bad news is that you have reason to be worried about Skye. This guy really is after her. He seems almost desperate to find her. The good news is that if he is looking for her, then he doesn't have her."  
  
"At least not yet. But if she continues to use that blasted credit card, it won't take to long to find her. It will practically act as a homing beacon."  
  
"I know. But if she doesn't use it, what are the chances that we will locate her either. No offence, but you didn't exactly have a lot of information for us to work off of when you asked us to find your ex-wife. Considering the fact that you married her, I would have thought that you would have gotten to know the woman a little bit better."  
  
"Chris, don't start. Besides, Skye kept a lot of things to herself."  
  
"It might have been helpful to know who she knows in France. People generally run to known locations."  
  
"Didn't your people learn anything when they talked to the Chandlers?"  
  
"Jax, when it comes to your wife's history in France, then know less than you do. They couldn't even remember the name of the private school they sent her to. We need those credit card transactions to track her. We are practically working on a clean slate here."  
  
"But if she uses that card, she will draw Alcazar's people to her."  
  
"I've sent in a few of my men with orders to hide her if they spot her, but they haven't seen anything yet."  
  
"Keep me informed. I'm headed there now."  
  
--  
  
'Oh bloody hell. There are those same guys. What the hell is going on? The first time that I saw them, I thought my goose was cooked. I thought this was it. Security had finally caught up with me. Man my Dad is going to be so pissed if we have to relocate in order to avoid getting thrown out of the country.' After they walked right by Timmy, he realized that he was holding his breath. He almost started laughing. 'Of course they aren't after me. It's just a stupid credit card. No one has ever run after me for a credit card before. Stop being so paranoid,' Timmy thought as he walked out of the store with his latest purchase.  
  
"Hey kid."  
  
Timmy froze. His first instinct was to run. But run where? These security type guys seemed to be all over the place. Timmy decided to play it cool with the I didn't know that I had done anything wrong approach. Timmy turned around and said, "Yes Sir?" Timmy felt like kicking himself when his voice came out a couple of pitches higher than normal. He gulped when the man reached his hand into his inside coat pocket. He could tell from the fit of this guy's coat that he was carrying a gun. 'Oh God. This is it. I'm dead.' Timmy thought as he closed his eyes.  
  
"Have you seen this woman?"  
  
Timmy opened his eyes and saw that the man was holding a picture in front of him. He felt like sitting down and crying in relief. Timmy looked at the picture. 'Oh Shit,' he thought, 'That's the tourist that I took the card off of.'  
  
Timmy looked up that the man, took a big breath and said, "Sorry, I haven't seen her."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"That is one gorgeous woman. I'm sure that there is no way that I would forget a woman like that."  
  
"Thanks anyway kid."  
  
Timmy blew out a sigh of relief as the man let him go and walked away. 'Man, this card is hot. I wonder who the hell this Skye Chandler Quartermaine woman is that she has so much muscle looking for her. Oh man, I've got to get rid of this card before anyone connects it to me.' As he walked out of the store, he took the card and threw it toward the gutter and walked away.  
  
--  
  
"What the hell do you mean that you can't find her? How the hell could you loose the woman? She purchased things at five registers. You guys were practically on top of her for the last two. How the hell could she have gotten away? Alcazar screamed at the men in front of him. All his plans, all of his hard work was going down the drain because these idiots couldn't keep track of one bloody woman.  
  
"Sir when we couldn't find her, we showed her picture to everyone in the area. Since no one could recognize her, I think that it is safe to assume that she may have changed her appearance."  
  
Another of the men nodded. "It wouldn't be the first time she has done that, sir. That time in the Bahamas, she bleached her hair to try to get by us. Then there was the time that she dyed it grey and put on that theatrical make up and rolled by us in a wheel chair."  
  
"I'm not interested in your god damn excuses. People, we have a time limit here. From the time she stops taking her medication, she will have three to five days before she starts bleeding internally. We don't know if she took her medication with her or not. We need to find her sooner rather than later. Offer a reward. Do whatever it is that you have to do. Just get her back."  
  
--  
  
"Hey Jeff, look at this."  
  
"Come on Tom. We got to go. That train to England isn't going to wait for us. We have already spent a fortune on the euro rail tickets. They're non- refundable. I don't know about you but I don't have another $200 laying around."  
  
"Someone dropped their credit card."  
  
"Forget the stupid card and let's get going."  
  
"I wonder if it is any good."  
  
"For god's sake Tom. Do you want to spend the week-end in London or not?"  
  
Tom stuck the card in his back pocket. "I'm coming. Geese, stop panicking. We have plenty of time."  
  
--  
  
"At least she stopped using the credit card."  
  
Jax looked over at Chris. "Are you sure this men didn't find her?"  
  
"When we left yesterday, Alcazar's men were busy flashing her picture around. They didn't have a clue where she was."  
  
"She bought things at five different registers at Printemps."  
  
"She just kept moving between the buildings."  
  
"Yet no one saw her. Chris do you have a list of what she bought?"  
  
"Over there on the counter." Chris watched as Jax walked over and started reading through the list. "When we do find her, would you mind if I took a few moments to talk with her. I'm dying to know how she got away. I mean, those guys had to have been almost on top of her during those last two purchases."  
  
"And these were the times that she was at these registers?"  
  
"Yeah, the time, register number, and they even assigned a number to the sales clerks."  
  
-Beep-  
  
Chris turned back to the computer. "Damn. Jax we have another hit on that same credit card. And get this, she's in London, England. What the hell is she thinking using that bloody card? She has to know after Printemps that Alcazar's men are following it or they would have caught her yesterday." Chris looked back at Jax. "What the hell are you laughing at?"  
  
"Have you looked at this list of purchases?"  
  
"No."  
  
"A stereo, CDs, a skateboard, roller blades, a casserole dish and a couple of pairs of jeans and shoes."  
  
"I admit, the casserole dish is a little funny but."  
  
"Men's jeans and men's running shoes."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Is there anyway we can get a look at the camera at these registers for these times. I want to see who the hell was making those purchases because I'm betting that it wasn't Skye."  
  
"Sure. Printemps uses a digital system. Give me a moment to hack into their systems." Ten minutes later, Chris had the photo's up on the screen. "You're right. Here hi is at all five stations."  
  
"He's just a kid."  
  
"He probably picked it out of her pocket."  
  
"Print up a picture of this kid. I want to talk to him."  
  
"Why? He's probably just a pickpocket."  
  
"He's a pickpocket who knew where Skye was at one point during that day. He took that card off of her somewhere. I'm hoping that he can give us a place to start looking."  
  
"How the hell do we find a pickpocket?"  
  
"We already know where he likes to shop. Put people at these departments. Chances are, he will be back."  
  
Chris nodded his head. "And this hit in London?"  
  
"Obviously it's not her."  
  
"But shouldn't we cancel her card?"  
  
"No, why spoil Alcazar's fun. Let him follow it to England."  
  
--  
  
"Sir, We have two hits on the card in London, England."  
  
Alcazar looked at his guard and nodded. "Get the jet ready. We are going to London ourselves to bring her back. Distribute the picture with all of our people there. I want her found."  
  
--  
  
"We found him. The kid was picking himself up a new jacket and some guy named Walter Rulith was about to pick up the bill."  
  
"Good job Chris. Have you found out anything?"  
  
"Well after we gave him $50 and threatened to turn him over to the authorities he swore that he picked it off of our lady at les Puces de Saint-Ouen."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"It's a flea market in the north of Paris."  
  
"What the hell was she doing in the poorer part of town?"  
  
"The kid's just a pickpocket Jax. He can't tell us why she was there, just where she was when he took her credit card. He swears that she was at 93 Saint-Ouen."  
  
"I'll meet you there."  
  
--  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Jax, I think my feet are beginning to kill me. I've flashed this picture to so many people now that I've forgotten some of the people that I first talked to until after they informed me that I already showed it to them."  
  
"Someone has to have seen her. She wouldn't have come here without a reason."  
  
"Perhaps, but even is they did remember seeing her, would they tell us about it?"  
  
"Did you notice that we have a tail?"  
  
Chris nodded his head. "Alcazar is having us followed. They are doing a shitty job of it too. I haven't had any problem picking out his men."  
  
"Shit. If we do find her, we would be leading them right to her."  
  
"Jax, I don't think that you need to worry about that as long as we are in Paris. I doubt that the lady is still here."  
  
"Why not? She was in Paris yesterday."  
  
"We have been following Alcazar's movements for a few days. He didn't start panicking until yesterday."  
  
"So you are assuming that he either knew where she was staying or he was holding her and she escaped."  
  
"Either way, she knows that he is looking for her. My guess is that she found a way out of town."  
  
"Stop."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Look over there, in the window."  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The one with the jewellery."  
  
"What am I looking for?"  
  
"I've seen some of those necklaces before."  
  
"Skye's?"  
  
"It makes sense. She need money and she knew that she couldn't use the credit cards."  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"To buy back her jewellery. When this mess is over with, I want to be able to give her back everything that she lost."  
  
--  
  
London  
  
"What the hell do you mean it was two college kids?"  
  
"They claim to have found the credit card laying outside of a store in Paris called Printemps Mr Alcazar."  
  
"Bloody Hell."  
  
"And the men following Mr Jacks report that they are currently following him and his PI through a flea market."  
  
"A flea market? What is he doing there?"  
  
"Showing Miss Chandler's picture in the street."  
  
"Get the jet ready. We are going back to Paris. 


	9. chapter 9

« I'm fairly sure that you picked up a lot more jewellery than Skye came here with Jax."  
  
"Yes, but notice how talkative the shopkeeper became when he realized that I wanted to buy everything she sold to him. Al least we know that she has plenty of cash."  
  
"Assuming some pickpocket didn't relieve her of that too."  
  
Jax shook his head. "No, I don't think so."  
  
"Why not? Obviously that kid didn't have any problem taking that card off of her."  
  
"That's just it. Only one card has turned up."  
  
"So."  
  
"At any point in time, Skye would have four or five different cards on her. Yet this kid only had one. Why?"  
  
"She had that card separate from her other cards for some reason. Maybe she was planning to buy something with it."  
  
"Yes, she bought herself some manoeuvring room."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Let's assume that Skye knows Alcazar well enough to know how he thinks. Before that kid started charging things, where were Alcazar's men?"  
  
"Most of them were searching the airports and train stations for Skye. Alcazar assumed that she would try to get out of town." Chris paused for a moment. "Shit."  
  
"Exactly. She was trying to get out of town, but she needed a distraction, something to get his people away from all the ways of exiting Paris. All we need to do is check to see who bought a ticket with cash at about the same time as when everyone was searching Printemps."  
  
Chris looked at Jax like he was nuts.  
  
"What? How hard could it be?"  
  
"Let's see, there are two major international bus lines in Paris, four train stations, and two major airports. This is assuming that she didn't leave town via the metro system and charter a plane at one of the private airports. Checking who bought a ticket with cash will lead us all over Europe."  
  
"Do you have a better plan?"  
  
"Actually, I do."  
  
"I'm all ears."  
  
Chris handed him his cell phone. "Call your bank."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Call your bank and track that check you just wrote out for all that jewellery."  
  
Picking up the phone, Jax did as Chris requested. "Now why am I doing this?"  
  
"Because I need to know which bank he uses. Once he deposits that check, it should be easy for me to follow it back to the account he deposited it at."  
  
"I still don't understand where you are going with this."  
  
"Then you obviously weren't paying attention when the old guy was talking to us."  
  
Jax looked at Chris, slightly insulted.  
  
"He said that he didn't keep that much cash on hand. He gave Skye 3000 in cash and a check for the rest."  
  
Chris watched as understanding dawned in Jax's eyes. "When she cashes that check, then we will know where to find her."  
  
---  
  
"Damn it, I hate travelling coach." Skye looked around and stretched as she walked off of the plane. Normally she wouldn't have dreamed of sitting in anything less than first class, that was assuming that she couldn't find someone to fly her there in a private jet. But for once in her life, Skye knew that she had to watch her money. If she didn't find who she was looking for and somehow convince him to help her, then she might have to live off the money from selling her jewellery for a while. "But first thing's first." Skye muttered to herself. She walked up to the attendant and asked where she could find a phone and telephone directory.  
  
As Skye flipped through the yellow pages she thought, 'Where the hell would he be staying.' Skye started to mentally review everything that she knew about the man. It wasn't exactly easy to track down someone that she had never met who travelled among a rather fast set, especially when she didn't know what he looked like, or even if he was still in town. All she knew for sure was that a month ago she had overheard someone say that he was in Seville, Spain and he would be staying here for a month and a half. Assuming he hadn't changed his plans, that meant that he would be here for another two weeks. "Damn it, next time that I ease drop on someone's conversation, I'm really should pay closer attention to details." Skye muttered.  
  
"I guess that I will have to do this the hard way," she sighed as she opened the yellow pages to the section with the five star hotels, picked up the phone and started dialling. At each hotel, she simply asked to be connected to his hotel room. Nine phone calls later, she finally had the right hotel. Skye hung up the phone before they could connect her to his room. She didn't want to talk to him over the phone. She still wasn't completely sure how she was going to talk him into this, but she did know that whatever she did, she needed to do it in person. She called the hotel back and made a reservation for the next couple of nights under her assumed name. If she didn't manage to get his cooperation in that time, then she would need to move to somewhere less expensive.  
  
"I need a change of clothes, makeup and maybe a little luggage would be nice. Shopping, yes I believe that is what I will do next."  
  
Skye stepped out of the airport and hailed a taxi. "El Corte Ingles, Por Favor."  
  
"Cual tienda?"  
  
Damn she had forgotten. There were a few of them in this town. Skye gave him the address of the hotel and asked to be taken to the closest one to that address. After two hours, Skye managed to keep herself from buying more than she actually needed to get through the next couple of days and she was feeling a lot better. It helped that she changed her clothes and put on a fresh layer of makeup. She packed the rest of her purchases into her new luggage bag.  
  
'I haven't travelled this light since I stowed away on Jax's plane and ended up in the middle of that damn swamp,' Skye thought. As the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel she thought, 'Al least the accommodations are going to be more comfortable."  
  
Skye smiled as she walked up to the reception desk. As she walked across the room, she felt several pairs of eyes settle on her. "I'm Toni Calloway. I believe that you have a reservation for me."  
  
"Yes Senora. If you would fill this out and sign here."  
  
Skye quickly filled out the card and the desk clerk handed her the key to her room. As she looked at the mail slots behind the receptionists, Skye had an idea. "May I have a piece of paper? I would like to leave a message." After the receptionist handed her the paper. Skye quickly scribbled a short message and handed it to the clerk. "Could you please see that Mr Jerry Jacks gets this please?"  
  
Jerry had noticed her the second she walked into the hotel. The woman was simply gorgeous. 'No one meeting her would soon forget her,' he thought. That milk white complexion, slim curves, beautiful features and red hair. Jerry has always been drawn to red hair. He didn't know why but they always seemed to have more fire. It wasn't just her looks. This woman's movements spoke of grace and confidence. Her posture spoke of purpose. She looked like someone who knew exactly who she was, where she was going and what she would do when she got there. Every man in this room was probably thinking the same thing as him. Wouldn't it be nice to have her focus that attention completely on him? Jerry moved up behind her at the counter so he could get her name. He had been debating with himself on what type of flowers that he would send to her room when he heard her say his name. 'Damn his luck. This gorgeous woman was looking for him.' Jerry tried searching his memory, but he couldn't recall ever seeing her before and he was sure that he would have remembered meeting her. Then he thought about the name that she had given to the clerk. Toni Calloway. No that didn't ring any bells either.  
  
Never one to let such an opportunity slip, Jerry walked up to her. "You could leave it at the desk, but wouldn't it be simpler to just give it directly to me?"  
  
Skye turned around and took her first look at her ex brother in law. She smiled. The man looked nothing like his brother/her ex husband. Where Jax had fare hair and a light complexion, Jerry had raven black hair and was well tanned. Except for the accent, She didn't see any similarities.  
  
"If I had given the note to you, then I wouldn't have known your room number. Now I do."  
  
"I guarantee that had you asked me, I would have been glad to tell you where I was spending the night. However, I don't believe that we have met. I'm Jerry Jacks." Jerry stood there waiting for Skye to introduce herself. As he introduced himself, Jerry reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. Noticing the ring he said, "Please tell me that you're not married."  
  
"Would it matter if I were? From what I have been told, it never stopped you before."  
  
"You're right. A husband wouldn't have stopped me, especially one who is obviously a fool to let you travel without him. But it does add the complication of weather or not I have to look over my shoulder for a jealous spouse."  
  
"I'm not currently married, but I do have a small problem with an over possessive male following me around who never seems to learn that I'm not interested."  
  
"Perhaps I could help you discourage him."  
  
"That is among the reasons that I cam to see you."  
  
"So, you were looking for me?"  
  
"Mr. Jacks, you are my entire reason for coming to Spain."  
  
"I'm flattered. You came to Spain, just to see me."  
  
"You should be."  
  
"Now I just wish that I knew why."  
  
"That Mr. Jacks is a story, best told over a good meal and some place more private."  
  
"Please, call me Jerry. Every time that I hear the name Mr. Jacks, I expect to see my father."  
  
Skye's smile turned into a small laugh.  
  
"Did I say something funny?"  
  
"No. You just reminded me of your brother when you said that."  
  
"You know my brother?"  
  
Skye could tell that it was killing him that he couldn't place her.  
  
Jerry looked directly into her eyes. "I'm not sure that I like the idea that you seem to know me when I don't have a clue who you are. You know, this is normally where you would tell me your name and then I would invite you to dinner."  
  
"Really? Well, I accept your invitation to dinner."  
  
Jerry grinned. "And your name?"  
  
"Well, today it is Toni Calloway."  
  
Jerry looked amused. "And what would it have been yesterday?"  
  
"Now you can't expect me to tell you everything. I was told that you liked a little mystery."  
  
"Don't believe everything that my brother told you about me. Jax was constantly getting into trouble and I always somehow ended up taking the blame."  
  
"Ah, the curse of being the older sibling. So it isn't true that you once decided to go camping and because you promised to watch your younger brother, you packed up Jax and tied him into the dog sled with the rest of your gear and proceeded to get hopelessly lost."  
  
"Jax told you about that!"  
  
"No actually your mother did."  
  
"It is truly unfair that you seem to know so much about me when all I know is the name that you say you are using today and that you have a problem that you want me to help you with."  
  
"I thought that you liked a woman who knew how to keep a few secrets."  
  
"Oh, I do. Not knowing everything adds a little spice to life. Shall I pick you up at eight?"  
  
"Eight would be perfect."  
  
"I will meet you outside your room."  
  
Skye nodded. "It is."  
  
"326," Jerry finished.  
  
"You were paying attention."  
  
Jerry kissed Skye's hand again. "Until tonight." 


	10. chapter 10

« Hey Jax, how's Port Charles ? » Jerry said as soon as Jax picked up.  
  
"Fine as far as I know. Actually, I'm in Paris looking for my ex-wife."  
  
"Ah, did Alexis get herself in some sort of trouble again? You should hand that problem over to Ned. You should still be on your honeymoon with your latest wife. I've got to tell you, postponing your honeymoon in order to help out that other woman was a big mistake. I don't care if she was Brenda. You got money. Buy her some protection. Personally I think your wife is a saint for being so understanding and not dropping your sorry ass when she found out that you took a bullet for Brenda. The last time I talked to mom, this Skye woman was all she could talk about."  
  
"You obviously haven't talked to mom lately."  
  
"Well, it's been about a month or so. Don't give me that I should call home more often crap. Unlike you, I'm not a goody two shoes. I fully believe in living my own life to the fullest and that doesn't always include calling home to get my parent's opinion on whatever I'm up to."  
  
"If you called home then you would know that Skye and I are divorced."  
  
"See, told you it was a mistake. What the hell did you do wrong?"  
  
"Why are you assuming that I'm the one who screwed up?"  
  
"Because unlike mom and dad, I know better than to think that you are perfect. And from what mom said, this Skye woman was someone who would fight for you until the bitter end. Therefore, you're the one who had to have screwed up."  
  
"I caught her in what I thought was a lie and I walked out the door and into Brenda's bed. When she said that she wouldn't divorce me, I used the power of attorney that she had given me to arrange a divorce before the week was out."  
  
"Just wait a minute. From what I remember from our last phone call, didn't you lie to her about Brenda? Man you had some nerve throwing whatever it was in her face."  
  
"I know. That doesn't even begin to cover it. And to make matters worse, it turns out that Brenda isn't even really Brenda. Apparently Alcazar took some other woman, brain washed her, and had plastic surgery to make her look like she was Brenda."  
  
"What the hell! The last time we talked you said that the crazy bastard shot you to get you out of the way of getting to Brenda."  
  
"Well, apparently, he did want me out of the way. It turns out that we were protecting the wrong woman. Brenda was never in any danger. She was just the diversion."  
  
"Then who?"  
  
"He was after my wife the entire time. According to what Brenda was able to remember from therapy, it was all about Skye. I was supposed to see Brenda and leave my wife. He tried to kill off Sonny to make sure that his fake Brenda couldn't run to him."  
  
"Well that makes sense. Brenda always did love him the most."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"It's the truth Jax. If Sonny were a free man, Brenda would run to him. You were always just the fill in."  
  
"Well don't you just know how to feed my ego."  
  
"From what I hear, you need a good kick in the ass."  
  
"To make a long story short, Alcazar followed Skye to Paris. I don't know what exactly happened in the mean time, but she managed to loose him yesterday. Alcazar's men are turning over every stone possible to find her."  
  
"You intend to get to her first."  
  
"Someone has to save her."  
  
"My brother, the white knight. Did it ever occur to you that maybe she doesn't want your help. In fact, from everything I have just heard, she has just as much reason to run from you as she does from this Alcazar person."  
  
"She needs my help."  
  
"I agree that she may need help, but somehow I doubt that she wants yours."  
  
"Is there some reason you called, other than to annoy me?"  
  
"Yes actually. I just met the latest love of my life and she says that she knows you."  
  
"What's this latest redhead's name?"  
  
"How do you know about her red hair?"  
  
"Jerry, you may date woman of all shapes and colors but you only say that you are in love when the woman has fiery hair."  
  
Jerry laughed. "You know me to well. Her name is Toni Calloway."  
  
"No I don't recall ever meeting her."  
  
"She seemed to know our mother too."  
  
"No, sorry, the only woman with red hair that I have introduced to our parents lately was Skye."  
  
'Really,' Jerry thought. "Never mind. I thought that it was an alias anyway. She was just trying to get my attention. So tell me about this missing wife of yours. Is she beautiful?"  
  
"Gorgeous."  
  
"So was she a model like Brenda or did she have some other brainless job."  
  
"Why do you keep picking on the intelligence of the woman I date?"  
  
"Because, outside of Alexis, you don't seem to date woman with much of a brain."  
  
"Cloe was in business."  
  
"Please, the woman designed dresses. After you met her, how many times did you tell her what to do in order to run her business better? How many times did you step in when other companies where clearly taking advantage of her? The woman may have known everything about fashion but she knew nothing about running a business. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that Alexis gave you the time of day. Smart woman usually intimidate you."  
  
"Skye's intelligent and she's a red head. You would probably like her. She took over ELQ and she ran it quite well until I gave the controlling stocks away to her grandmother and her grandmother gave control to her husband."  
  
"And why exactly did you do that?"  
  
"Skye did something that I didn't approve of.."  
  
"And you felt the need to punish her for doing something that you didn't agree with. Did it ever occur to you that it isn't your place to judge how others live their lives. Like I said Jax, you don't know how to handle a woman who cannot only think for herself, but also doesn't need your approval. I'm surprised that Alexis put up with you for as long as she did."  
  
"Thanks a lot."  
  
"Anytime. So you finally managed to get a woman who is beautiful and smart and from what mom said, worshiped the ground you walked on, and you left her for a memory of a woman who loved someone else. You know Jax, you don't deserve her."  
  
"Perhaps not, but I love her and I intend on finding her and protecting her from Alcazar."  
  
"I wish you luck. I've got to go. I have a date to keep with the latest love of my life."  
  
"Who's name your not even sure of."  
  
"So what? Unlike you, I like a little mystery."  
  
"Even if it is a lie?"  
  
"Get off of your high horse Jax. Not even you live up to the standards that you try to apply to the people you care about. Think about that while your are searching for your ex. I will talk to you latter."  
  
---  
  
'I wonder why I'm so nervous,' Skye thought as she checked the mirror one last time to make sure everything looked right. 'Damn, I wish that I had kept a few more pieces of my jewellery.' She had sold everything except her wedding ring and the bracelet that Jax's mother had given her. Skye fingered the earrings that she had boughten at the store. It wasn't exactly her normal style, but they matched the dress. Skye dressed to dazzle her date tonight. The dress was sleeveless, cut high in the front and low in the back. It was the perfect shade of blue. "Jax once bought me a dress in this same colour." Skye smiled and smoothed a hand over her flat stomach. She looked down where her hand lay. "It's hard to believe that there are two little ones in there. I wonder what you are going to be like. Will you have red hair like me or will you be blond or black like your fathers? Will you be boys or girls or one of each? Knowing Alcazar, he probably tried to order the doctors to make his a boy. I guess it really doesn't matter. Either way, your still mine."  
  
Skye reached into her purse and took her medication. "You know, I don't envy you two in there. I haven't a clue what this stuff does or how it will affect you but those doctors sounded pretty sure that the three of us wouldn't survive without it. But I don't like to take things blindly for to long. As soon as we conclude our business with your Uncle Jerry, we will have to see about finding a doctor who wouldn't be on either of your fathers' payrolls. I've been reading this file and what they did looks extremely complicated. But then, everything in my life has always been complicated so why would I expect this to be any different."  
  
Skye heard a knock at the door. "Oh that must be your uncle Jerry." Skye soothed her hand over her stomach one last time. "Now behave yourselves. We do not want to give the man a bad impression by making mommy run for the toilets."  
  
Skye checked to see who was there then opened it. "What the. they're beautiful Jerry."  
  
"May I come in?"  
  
"Of course. You know most dates bring cut flowers arranged in some sort of bouquet. I don't think that anyone has brought me the entire plant before."  
  
"If I had cut this flower from the plant, it wouldn't have looked nearly as lovely. To truly appreciate the view, you need the entire plant."  
  
Skye looked at the Flowers in amazement. "It's beautiful. I don't think that I have every seen this before. What is it?"  
  
Jerry flushed slightly. "You know what? I'm not exactly sure. I saw it and I thought it was perfect for you. Between being told not to pick the flowers, getting the instructions for watering and sunlight, and bargaining over the price, I forgot to ask."  
  
"Bargaining over the price? No, I don't want to know where you got it. After some of the stories that I have heard, it was probably someone's garden."  
  
Skye saw the slightly guilty expression on Jerry's face and laughed. "It was someone's garden. I hope they got a good price for it."  
  
Jerry laughed. "I probably paid more for it than if I had boughten it at a more conventional location."  
  
"Good for them. Now I believe that you were taking me to dinner."  
  
"This way my lady." Jerry led Skye to the restaurant downstairs. "I reserved a table."  
  
"You mean your aren't going to spirit me off to some fancy location and dazzle me?"  
  
"Now I know that you spent time with my brother. No, Flying off to some exotic location is more his style than mine. I prefer to spend the time getting to know that lady that I am with and letting them get to know me."  
  
Skye smiled at Jerry. "I think that I like that. No tricks, no gimmicks, no razzle-dazzle. I'm looking forward to learning more about you."  
  
Jerry helped Skye into her seat and then sat down. "I believe the deal was that I provide dinner in exchange for the chance to uncover some of your secrets."  
  
"So it is."  
  
"So where did the name Toni Calloway come from?"  
  
"You don't believe that it's my real name?"  
  
"You know Jax well enough that you have met my parents. The stories you tell prove that fact. I talked to Jax today. He never heard the name before. There for you go by another name."  
  
"Toni Calloway is the name I used on my fake licence as a teenager to get in bars."  
  
"It is a little more than that or you wouldn't have a passport with that name on it connected with your face."  
  
"That was a present from my first husband. I've never actually used it before."  
  
Jerry lifted an eyebrow. "Never?"  
  
"Okay, maybe a couple of times. As far as I know, he's the only one who knows what was on my fake licence. It is a good thing that no one looked at it to closely or they would know that it is out of date."  
  
The waiter came over and asked them what they would like to drink. Jerry ordered a white wine and Skye asked for juice. At Skye's order, Jerry smiled knowingly.  
  
"So, Toni, what do you need me to do for you."  
  
"You have some unique skills that I need to put to use."  
  
"These skills would be?" "I was told that you cleaned up some money for the mob a few years ago."  
  
Jerry looked disappointed. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have had enough trouble with the authorities over laundering illegal funds."  
  
"You won't be handling illegal funds. You will be handling my money with my permission. I can't get to my accounts right know without alerting everyone who is looking for me to my location. I want you to move my money someplace where no one except me will be able to find it. I want everyone to loose the trail who is following it."  
  
"Exactly what kind of trouble are you in?"  
  
"The kind that requires that I may have to disappear for a long time."  
  
"The kind that say involves a certain international criminal that goes by the name of Luis Alcazar, Mrs. Jacks."  
  
Skye's mouth dropped open. "How did you.how long have you known?"  
  
"For sure? You just confirmed it. As for how? You're an alcoholic. You can't drink alcohol. You ordered juice."  
  
"Lot's of people don't drink."  
  
"I talked to my brother today. The only red head that he has introduced to his parents in recent years is you. You were all my parents talked about the last time I called them."  
  
"You obviously haven't talked to your parents in a while."  
  
"Let me see, how did he describe you? Beautiful, intelligent, known to be secretive when it suits your purpose to be so, and currently on the run from some very nasty company. The only a handful of people knew that I was in Spain. I assume that you found out my location when I called Jax."  
  
Skye nodded.  
  
"Jax is turning this world upside down looking for you."  
  
"You have got to be kidding. The last time I saw Jax, he couldn't get away from me fast enough to be with his so called first love."  
  
"It turns out that Brenda isn't really Brenda after all."  
  
"This is supposed to matter to me because?"  
  
"He is looking for you. He wants to be with you."  
  
"No offence, but I sure as hell don't want to be with him. He screwed me over to be with that cheap imitation. You say that it wasn't even really Brenda. Is that supposed to make it all right? He didn't even leave me for the real thing. He left for a memory. Why the hell would I want to go back to that?"  
  
"Among other things, he could help protect you from Alcazar."  
  
Skye stood up and grabbed her purse. "I don't need protection. I have been watching my back just fine for years against Alcazar. I will continue to do so. I am not some child that needs to be led around on a string. I know what needs to be done. If you won't help me then I will find someone who will."  
  
Jerry grabbed Skye's hand. "Skye wait. You don't need to run. I'm not saying no."  
  
"You will help me?"  
  
"Yes." 


	11. Chapter 11

Skye settled back into her chair as she calmed down. "So you will help me move my money?"  
  
"Among other things, yes."  
  
Skye stiffened at the words 'other things.' "Other things? What other things?"  
  
"Now I realize that you believe that you can handle this on your own, but wouldn't it be better if someone was there, watching your back? Don't get upset with me for changing your game plan, but it seems to me that if you are going to go on the run, then it wouldn't hurt to have someone along who has experience with avoiding shall we say, unfriendly people intent on putting you in a cage."  
  
"Jerry, unlike you, I'm not merely avoiding the authorities in the US for laundering money."  
  
"No, you are running from something a hell of a lot worse. You have an international arms dealer/extortionist dodging your footsteps. The more I hear about what this guy did in Port Charles, apparently to get to you, the more I want to get to know you."  
  
Skye gave a rather sarcastic laugh. "Let me get this straight. I've got a major international criminal who is ready and willing to ruin several people's lives and/or kill to get to me chasing me around the world and this makes you want to get to know me? Are you nuts? Everyone else who hears this either doesn't believe me and recommends that I go see a shrink, or if they do believe me, they run the other direction as fast as possible. With all the things that guy has done over the years to the people around me, there are times that I don't even want to know me anymore."  
  
"The way I see it. You are a beautiful, seemingly intelligent woman. You have managed to get the attention of two men who are willing to turn this world upside down in order to find you. So I figure that there must be something very special about you and I want to find out what it is."  
  
Skye started laughing. "Having a certifiable mad man and an incurable white night chasing me around the world makes me special? Personally, I have had about as much being 'special' as I can take. I would love something in my life to be normal, even perhaps a little boring."  
  
"Sorry, that can not happen. In my experience, once you have been marked as special, you never have another normal moment in your life."  
  
"Special. I hate that word. I've been special since birth. I've never had anything that remotely resembled a normal life."  
  
"That has got to be a bit of an exaggeration."  
  
"No, it isn't."  
  
"You're entire life could not have been this eventful."  
  
"My entire life works in a cycle. I am either in the process of surviving a traumatic event, recovering from said traumatic event, or awaiting the next one to start. I have never had more than a six month wait between events."  
  
"Surely during your childhood?"  
  
"Jerry don't even start on my childhood. That was one long traumatic event."  
  
Jerry looked at her in disbelief. "It was that bad?"  
  
"Let me see. We can start with my grandfather who set the entire process in motion when he sold me on the black market to a crazy woman with lots of money."  
  
"At least you didn't starve."  
  
"Who said I didn't? Althea drank. When she drank she got mean. Most of the servants never stayed for more than a couple of months. They weren't paid for combat duty. I on the other hand was stuck there year round. I had to put up with her temper. I had to fix my own meals if no one was there. That's assuming that there was something in the cupboard that I could fix. The only time that Althea would get groceries was if she ran out of alcohol."  
  
"Where was your father during all of this?"  
  
"That would be Adam, Althea's ex. He never came by. He just paid the bills."  
  
"Surely someone stepped in if things where that bad."  
  
"You think so? You would be surprise how many times people will look the other way when someone with a lot of money breaks the laws. If social workers showed up at the house, she would call some judge friend of hers. He would come by for a few dates and that would be that. If she had to take me to the doctor, she always took me to someone she could pay off in some way. She never took me straight to the emergency room. It didn't matter how badly I needed the medical attention. She didn't really want me, but she was damned if she was going to let anyone else take me. I was hers, bought and paid for."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be. It's not your fault that I had a crummy childhood."  
  
"Didn't anyone ever step in? I thought that Jax mentioned a boarding school."  
  
"Oh yes, the boarding school from hell. When I was twelve the teacher gave us this IQ test. I thought it was really stupid. Apparently everyone else thought that it was really hard. The next thing I know they are making this big fuss about how I'm apparently so smart and that I should be sent someplace that helps develop this wonderful intellect of my. You know, that is the first time that anyone called me special. And it is the last time that I thought that word was a good thing."  
  
"What happened at boarding school?"  
  
"Military school had nothing over this place. Everything was scheduled down to the last minute. We were woken up at six in the morning. We were put in bed at ten at night. We ate the exact same things every week. The food never changed. While the rest of the world went to sports practice, dated, or just sat around in front of the TV, we were in class. I couldn't even flunk out. How was it that they put it? Oh yes, everyone at this school is extremely intelligent and fully capable of getting straight A's in the conventional school system. We don't want you to just get A's. We want you to excel beyond that. And believe me, we were pushed."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I ran away and took my High School Equivalency test. A couple of months later, one of my father's detectives caught up with me and deposited me into a finishing school until I turned 18. I was 15. Actually now that I think about it, those three years were about the closest thing I had to normal." Skye looked at Jerry. "You know more about me than any of my ex- husbands, well with maybe the exception of my first husband."  
  
Jerry looked at Skye in surprise. "You and Jax never talked about your childhood?"  
  
"Jax told me a long time ago that he was tired of dealing with my insecurities. That was a glossed over version of the first eighteen years of my life. It doesn't even begin to cover the last 12 years that I have had to deal with Alcazar. You can not not talk about my insecurities when you talk about my past."  
  
"You have known Alcazar for 12 years! Why the hell didn't you say anything when he first arrived in Port Charles?"  
  
"I didn't see him right away. Everyone was calling his Luis Alcazar. It was the first time that I had ever heard that name."  
  
Jerry looked surprised.  
  
"What? You don't honestly believe that he was born Luis Alcazar do you? I have a different name for him for every place that I have run in to him. You don't have a clue how many aliases that man really has. The first time that I was able to place that name to his face was after Jax had already been shot. Maybe if the Jerk hadn't been lying to me and spent a little time bringing me in on what was really happening instead of isolating me at that damn lake house, I might have seen him and been able to tell Jax what had happened. But no, Jax kept his secrets so I kept mine. Besides, by that time I knew what Alcazar was doing."  
  
"Just wait. You knew!"  
  
"Not that Brenda was an impostor, but that does explain why the test results were negative. Did you know that the date of that test in that clinic in Switzerland was just a few days before they arrived in Port Charles? He brought her there because he wanted to show me that Jax didn't really love me. That given an incentive, he would leave me for his so called first love."  
  
"Why the hell didn't you tell anyone what was really going on?"  
  
"Because I wanted to know too. Alcazar may have set the scene, but that didn't mean that Jax had to play into his hand. He came home from the hospital with me. He told me that I was the one that he wanted to be with. For a little bit there, I let myself hope that this time it was for real. That this time Jax meant it. Then he turned around and walked out the door without a backward glance."  
  
"Ouch. That story almost makes me want to leave Jax in the dark about where you are."  
  
Skye stiffened. "You are NOT going to tell Jax anything."  
  
"Skye he's my brother. He is turning the globe over looking for you."  
  
"And he is being followed by Alcazar. Not only that, Alcazar has people around him at all times. You tell Jax something and it is just like telling Alcazar."  
  
"Relax. I will just call him and make sure that he is alone and warn him to say nothing to no one."  
  
"His phone is tapped."  
  
"Fine. I will send him an email."  
  
"His assistant has access to his email accounts."  
  
"So?"  
  
"He works for Alcazar."  
  
"Shit!"  
  
"Wait. Jax is working with a private detective."  
  
"Don't even think about it."  
  
"You can't expect me to keep my brother in the dark."  
  
"I thought you loved your brother."  
  
"I do. What has that got to do with anything?"  
  
"If Jax finds out where I am, he will come here, correct?"  
  
"Probably."  
  
"Alcazar will follow Jax. Once he finds me, Alcazar will kill Jax."  
  
"Why? He didn't kill him last time."  
  
"His goal wasn't to kill him last time. He was trying to get my attention to the fact that Jax was seeing Brenda behind my back in a way that I couldn't overlook and Jax couldn't lie his way out of. Alcazar doesn't normally follow me around the world like this. When I need my breathing space badly enough that I would run away, he usually gives me some room. Alcazar has raised the stakes. If Jax gets near me, he is a dead man."  
  
"What do you mean he has raised the stakes? What's going on?"  
  
"I'm not sure that you really want to know. But what the hell, maybe it will give you an incentive not to do anything stupid, like call your brother." Skye looked straight into Jerry's eyes and said. "Congratulations Jerry, you are going to be an uncle." 


	12. Chapter 12

From: seventhkay  
  
I love this story, please finish it soon, or at the very least add some new chapters. You write incredibly,you, unlike other writers of fan fiction stayed true to the characters personalities and traits, you didn't change them to fit your needs or yoour story's needs.You inspire me, you wrote a believable story and keep on with it.  
  
From: meg  
  
PLEASE keep writting this story is great i'm like hooked..!  
  
Well, you asked for it. So you got it. I finally had time to right more, so I started on this story first.  
  
Jerry sat there, stunned for a second. "A baby." He said the words a few times like he needed to process this new piece of information. After about a minute, the news finally sunk in and he started grinning like an idiot.  
  
Skye just watched, shaking her head. "The way you are behaving, one would think that I just told you that you are going to be a father."  
  
"Sorry, I was just imagining my parents reactions when they find out that they are going to be grandparents. I can't wait to call them." Jerry started walking to the phone.  
  
"You pick of that phone, and I'm out of here." Skye tone of voice was enough to stop Jerry in his tracks.  
  
"Skye you can't expect me to keep information like this to myself."  
  
"Hello, remember there is a certain bad guy out there looking for me or has our entire conversation over why I came here in the first place slipped your mind. I mean it Jerry. If you start calling people and announcing where I am, I will disappear so fast." Skye was starting to get really worked up.  
  
Jerry back off of the telephone. "Easy Skye. Calm down. I won't do anything until I know that you are safe. So Jax is going to be a father. Does Jax know? No, of course he doesn't, he would have told me if he knew anything. So when do you plan to tell him?"  
  
"How about never? Is never good for you?" Skye said sarcastically.  
  
"Skye! My brother has a right to know that he is going to be a father and you can not expect me to keep this information from him indefinitely."  
  
Skye became very quiet and sad for a second as she pulled her thoughts together. "I know," Skye answered quietly. "And under more normal circumstances, I would eventually tell him. But nothing about this situation resembles normal. Jax is being followed and constantly monitored by a man who would kill Jax's baby if given the chance. I have to think of safety first. Calling Jax would be like sending out a homing beacon." Skye looked directly into Jerry's eyes. "I need your promise that you won't call Jax and tell him about this."  
  
Jerry reluctantly agreed. "I promise that as long as this Alcazar guy is a threat, I won't call Jax."  
  
Skye seemed to relax.  
  
"I don't get it. If this guy wants you so badly, why would he harm the baby? Surely he knows that you would never have anything to do with him if he killed your child. I would think that harming the child would be counterproductive."  
  
"I know. I've never completely understood Alcazar's obsession with me. Every time that I have been in a happy relationship, he shows up and does something about it. Sometimes his stunts work. Like the time he convinced one of my boyfriends that I had a sex change operations."  
  
Jerry started to laugh.  
  
Skye smiled. "Looking back, even I have to laugh at that one. Sometimes they backfire in a way that puts me in danger. When I was married to my first husband Tom, he put something in my drink. I'm not sure exactly what he had planed that night, but the second I saw him there, I ran for my car. I took off before he could stop me. The drug kicked in, the combination of the alcohol and his little concoction caused me to black out. I hit a tree. I was in a coma for four months. When I woke up, my husband was bedding another woman. I still wonder if Barbara had any connections to Alcazar. But other times, I will be in a relationship that is very bad for me and he does nothing. Before I came to Port Charles, I was in a relationship with this married man. The relationship was doomed from the start. Then there was the time that my second husband drugged me and locked me in an abandoned church attic. Alcazar did nothing. It's like he doesn't mind when the men in my life make me miserable. He only interferes when I'm happy."  
  
Jerry whistled. "And you think that he would kill the baby."  
  
"I know that he would. I was pregnant once before. Alcazar arranged for the accident that caused the miscarriage. At least this time I have an advantage, Alcazar has to wait until the baby is born this time, or he risks killing his own child in the process."  
  
Jerry froze. "What do you mean, he would risk killing his own child?"  
  
"I'm carrying two babies. One is Jax's and the other is Alcazar's."  
  
"You slept with that bastard!" Jerry yelled.  
  
Skye yelled back. "First of all, if I had slept with Alcazar after Jax jumped in bed with his precious Brenda, it wouldn't be anyone else's business but mine. Considering what Jax put me through, no one has the right to play judge. Secondly, I didn't sleep with him. He had me knocked out a couple of weeks ago and had the doctor implant me with his child."  
  
"Oh," Jerry paused for a moment, because he didn't know what to say. "I think you are right. If I hadn't already heard about what he had done in Port Charles, after hearing all of this, I would have thought that you needed professional help."  
  
"Jerry, I do need help. I need you to get my money for me and then I need help finding a place to hide. I need it done as quickly and as quietly as possible. Do you think that you can do that?"  
  
Jerry gave her a rather arrogant smile. "When it comes to hiding money, you are talking to an expert. All I need to know is the account numbers, and with your permission, I can make that money disappear. Hiding you however, is going to be a different story. In case you haven't noticed, your aren't exactly the kind of woman that anyone forgets having met or seen."  
  
"It's a curse. People usually either hate me on site,"  
  
"I have a hard time believing that anyone could hate you."  
  
Skye smiled knowingly, "or they are like you."  
  
"What do you mean like me?"  
  
"They are intrigued by the challenge that I present to them."  
  
"Lady, I'm more than just intrigued by the challenge. But I do have a couple of ideas on how to move you around without being noticed. Give me a day or so to pull everything together."  
  
"What do you have in mind?"  
  
"You will see."  
  
---  
  
"What the hell do you mean, you can't find her trail?" Alcazar yelled. "There has to be something somewhere. She couldn't have disappeared into thin air."  
  
"We have gone over every inch of the apartment, sir. She didn't leave behind anything that would give us a clue as to where she went. However, we did discover a couple of things. We believe that she planed this escape in advance. She took all of her jewellery with her to the hospital. The detectives believe that she is selling the jewellery to finance her escape."  
  
Alcazar swore. "What else did you find out?"  
  
"We believe that she already had a destination in mind when she left here. Where ever it is that she went, the detectives believe that it wasn't done randomly like we first thought."  
  
"What are they basing this assumption on?"  
  
"A couple of days before the escape, the nurse you hired for Skye reported some peculiar behaviour to the guards. Apparently Skye spent several hours scribbling notes on various pieces of paper in a language that the nurse couldn't read."  
  
"So?"  
  
"The nurse asked her what she was doing and Skye told her straight out that she was writing down possible escape scenarios. According to the nurse, Skye spent half the day going over these papers. When she was done, she burnt them in the fire place, presumably so no one else would be able to translate them."  
  
"Why the hell wasn't I told about this before now?"  
  
"The nurse couldn't contact you because there wasn't a phone in the apartment that you set up for Skye. The guards thought that the idea of her being able to escape was ridiculous. There was only one way in and out of that apartment and they knew that she couldn't sneak past them. They never considered the fact that she would attempt the escape at the hospital."  
  
Alcazar nodded. "I have photos of most of Skye's jewellery. Hire some professionals to track down the pieces that she has sold. I want to know immediately when and where those pieces show up."  
  
"We believe that we already know where some of them were sold. Mr Jax acquired a great deal of jewellery at that market in the north of Paris."  
  
"Damn him. He always seems to be one step ahead of me. What are our people saying?"  
  
"They say that he seems to be waiting for something. Mr Jax and his PI have been sitting in that hotel room on the computer. All his assistant could tell us is that they seem to be researching bank records."  
  
"Keep a close eye on them. As soon as they make a move to go anywhere, I want to know. Make sure that he doesn't get near Skye."  
  
"Do you still want us to kill him if he finds Skye?"  
  
"I went through a lot of work to break those two apart. I plan for them to stay that way."  
  
"Perhaps you could place another distraction in front of him."  
  
"Brenda was the only distraction large enough that I could come up with the first time in order to get those two apart. Did you have a suggestion?"  
  
"It just seems to me that the fake worked so well. Why don't you put the real mccoy in front of him?"  
  
"Because the real Brenda understands what Jax did not. Jax didn't really love her. He loved the idea of her and he loved the challenge of stealing her away from Sonny, but he didn't really love her."  
  
"You seem extremely sure of that."  
  
"I am sure. When I found Brenda four years ago, she had to have some radical reconstructive surgery on her face. We didn't know what she really looked like at the time. She literally came out of it with a different look. She has been back to Port Charles several times. Jax actually knows her. He even took her out on a couple of dates. He didn't have a clue who she was and he wasn't remotely attracted to her. I think that he pissed her off. She was more than willing to help me recreate her memories in order to pay me back for saving her life."  
  
"Perhaps it is the idea of her that we need to use. We don't actually have to use Brenda. The man keeps running to everyone's rescue. Sooner or latter, it has to occur to him that the reason the fact Brenda's memories were so accurate is because we got the information from the real Brenda. We just have to make him think that we really do have her somewhere and that she is in trouble. We can make him choose which woman to save."  
  
"It has possibilities. But it could also backfire since he has already faced the fake and walked away."  
  
"If he really needs any prodding, we can let it slip that she is carrying your child. I'm sure that it will hurt his pride to think that she was sleeping with you. We can make it look like the two of you just had a little argument and he is in the way of that relationship. After all, we could put down his lack of attraction to the fake Brenda on the fact that it wasn't really her."  
  
"If we could pull that off, I would have the added bonus of Skye being even more angry at Jax than she already is. I like it. Start laying the ground work." 


	13. ch13

Jerry sat whistling as he clicked away at his lab top computer. 'God how I've missed this,' he thought as he moved some more of Skye's funds through various locations in order to make any paper trail extremely difficult, but not impossible, to follow. Jerry figured that someone would be monitoring her accounts for movement. So while he had sent a chunk of her cash to places where he could clean up the trail, he was also moving large chunks of her funds around in an effort to distract whoever was keeping track. As he made another 50 grand disappear he thought, 'This must be why I keep getting into trouble with the authorities. I enjoy the challenge to much to give it up.'  
  
Ring. Ring  
  
'Damn! Where did I leave my cell phone?' Jerry felt around until he found it, never taking his eyes off of the computer screen. He punched the button, balanced it between his ear and shoulder and continued typing. "Jerry, here. What's up gorgeous? Did you have any trouble at the bank?"  
  
"I wouldn't know, I haven't been there yet today," Jax replied, laughing.  
  
At the sound of Jax's voice, Jerry dropped the phone from his shoulder and it landed on the keyboard. "Damn," he said as he tried to get that last screen back up."  
  
As Jax heard the clunk and then Jerry's frantic typing he said, "Was that 'damn' because you screwed something up or because I'm not the lady you took to dinner last night."  
  
"A little bit of both actually."  
  
"Anything I can help you with."  
  
"Not at the moment. I just have to figure out where it went to when the phone clicked the computer board."  
  
"I take it your date went well last night."  
  
"It was definitely one of my more interesting evenings.  
  
"Do tell."  
  
"No, not this time. This is definitely not the kind of woman that you kiss and tell on."  
  
"Ah, so this is someone you are serious about."  
  
"Let's just say that I am looking forward to getting to know the lady. So, how's the search for your ex-wife going?" Since he called, I might as well find out what he knows.  
  
"Rather slowly at the moment. We do have a lead. I found out where she hawked her jewellery and bought it all back for her. The guy didn't have that much cash on hand, so he wrote her a check."  
  
Jerry quickly sat up in his chair. "Really! At least you know that she has cash."  
  
"It gets better. We are waiting for her to deposit it so we will have an idea where she is."  
  
"Do you know how to do that?"  
  
"No, but the PI that I hired does. All we have to do is wait until she cashes the check, then we will have an approximate location to work from."  
  
"I'm impressed little brother. But how do you plan to protect her from Alcazar if he is following you. Won't you be leading him to her?"  
  
"Sooner or latter, Alcazar is going to catch up to her. I would feel better if I was with her in order to protect her when it happens. She is better off with me than on her own."  
  
"Careful little brother, the last time you went on that theory was with Brenda. She never was in any physical danger from the man and you got shot in the stomach."  
  
"That was different. Brenda was the decoy. Skye is the real target."  
  
"Do me a favor. This time, try to remember that Alcazar doesn't want to physically harm Skye."  
  
"How would you know that?"  
  
"Because he's gone to great lengths to get her back. Kind of like the prizes that we used to fight over as kids. We went to great lengths to get them because we valued them. Alcazar values Skye alive. You on the other hand, he probably won't have any problem killing."  
  
"You make it sound like she isn't in any danger."  
  
"I'm not saying that she isn't in danger. I'm just saying that if it comes down to a showdown between you and Alcazar, try to remember that you will physically be in more danger than she will be. Please, just try to be more careful this time."  
  
"You sound worried."  
  
"I did some research on this guy since we last spoke. I've even spoken with someone who has some first hand knowledge of how he operates. He is into some very nasty stuff and he's got an extremely twisted mind."  
  
"I can handle Alcazar."  
  
"Just be careful. That's all I ask."  
  
"I will be. Jerry, Chris is signalling to me so I have to go."  
  
"Okay, and Jax."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good luck and stay safe."  
  
"You too."  
  
As soon as Jax hung up Jerry pressed his speed dial and called Skye.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Skye, it's Jerry. Did you cash that check yet?"  
  
"An hour ago. Why? Look Jerry, can this wait? I have an appoint with a doctor in about a half hour."  
  
"No it can't. Skye, Jax can trace the check. I just got off the phone with him."  
  
"What! You promised me that you wouldn't call him."  
  
"I didn't. He called me. And it is a good thing that he did or we wouldn't have known that he can trace that check."  
  
"Okay, okay. I'm not going to panic. How did he find out about the check anyway?"  
  
"He found the pawn shop that you sold them at. The good news is that if we ever get this problem with Alcazar taken care of, you can have all your jewellery back. Jax bought everything that he thought was yours."  
  
"That bad news being that he knows where I cashed the check."  
  
"Yep, we have got to get out of here. I figure that it will take about four hours for Jax to get to town."  
  
"Not before my doctor's appointment. It took an entire morning to find this guy. I'm already packed. All you have to do is pick up my suitcase and I'll meet you wherever you want."  
  
"Skye!"  
  
"Look, it's going to take some time to make the arrangements anyway right?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Well, you can make them and meet me at the clinic. We can take off from there."  
  
"Okay, I'll meet you at the train station in two hours with tickets, new ID and wig."  
  
"Wig?"  
  
"You're going to look charming as a blond."  
  
"I'll see you in two hours Jerry."  
  
As Skye hung up, the maid came over her and said that the doctor would see her. She led Skye into a parlour in the back of the house.  
  
"You do realize that I'm no longer allowed to practice medicine anymore young lady."  
  
"Trust me doctor, after the way you helped my second husband with his experiments, there is no way that I would let you anywhere near me. I'm here for a different reason."  
  
"Do I know you? Oh yeah, you were married to what's his name? Oh yes Jonathan Kinder. What ever happened to him anyway?"  
  
"Last that I heard, he was still rotting in prison."  
  
"Oh, so if your not here for my medical opinion, what can I do for you?"  
  
"I need a list of doctors. The kind that for the right price, will give me whatever I want and won't say anything to anyone."  
  
"That kind of list could get me into trouble."  
  
"How exactly are you paying the bills these days? With all the restrictions on your medical licence, you're probably not making all that much."  
  
"I'm doing okay."  
  
"Yes, but I bet you would be doing even better with this." Skye laid a thousand dollar euro on the table.  
  
"That's a nice start."  
  
"You will receive one of those for every name and address you give me. And I want a different one for each country."  
  
"I think that we could come to an arrangement."  
  
"Good. Now let's talk."  
  
--  
  
"Jax, we've got a location on that check." Chris shouted.  
  
Jax lifted his ear from the telephone to see Chris motioning to his computer.  
  
"I will be. Jerry, Chris is signalling to me so I have to go. Yeah. You too." Jax hung up and walked over to the computer. "Where is she?"  
  
"Seville, Spain."  
  
"What? That's where my brother is."  
  
"Maybe you could get him to help out?"  
  
"Good idea. I'll call him back." Jax dialled Jerry's number only to get a busy signal. "Damn. It's busy. His new girlfriend must have called."  
  
"We can try him latter. I'll go to the airport and get the plane ready. You get everything packed. We will be ready to take off by the time you get there."  
  
"I'll see you in a half-hour."  
  
--  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"What?" Alcazar barked.  
  
"We have a lead on Miss Chandler."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"According to our source, she cashed a check in Seville, Spain."  
  
"How the hell did she get there?" Alcazar shook his head. "No it doesn't matter. What about Jax?"  
  
"His plane is being fuelled for takeoff as we speak."  
  
"I don't want him to get there before us. Call our contact and make sure that he is delayed. Get our plane ready. We are going to Spain."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
--  
  
"Jerry, I don't like it."  
  
"I don't know. I think it looks kind of cute."  
  
"It itches."  
  
"Don't all wigs?"  
  
"Not the really good ones."  
  
"Then you will have to teach me a thing or two about buying wigs."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's either that or dying your hair. It would be a shame to do that. I like it the way that it is."  
  
"You and red heads."  
  
"What about me and red heads?"  
  
"According to your parents, every serious relationship that you have ever had has been with women with red hair."  
  
"What can I say? I know what I like. How did your doctor's appointment go? Are the little ones okay?"  
  
"We didn't have time for a through check up, but I have lots of very good referrals so I won't have any trouble finding doctors."  
  
"That's good."  
  
"So, where are we going after Madrid?"  
  
"Where are your doctors located?"  
  
"Here's one in the south of France. I like France."  
  
"Didn't you just come from there?"  
  
"I was in Paris. That's in the north. I doubt that Alcazar would consider that I would come back to France after the way I left."  
  
"Okay, France it is."  
  
"How long does it take to get to Madrid anyway?"  
  
"This is the speed train. We should be there in about an hour."  
  
--  
  
"Damn." Jax swore as he piloted his plane.  
  
"What?" Chris asked.  
  
"We've got a problem. I'm going to have to set down in Madrid and have it fixed. That's going to slow us down some."  
  
"Not really. You could get someone else to fix the plane and take the speed train to Seville. It would only take about an hour to get the tickets. This should only slow us down by about an hour and a half."  
  
"Okay, you find the mechanic and I'll arrange the tickets. 


	14. Ch14

« Well, I've got the tickets. Now where is Chris?" As Jax looked around for Chris his jaw dropped. There, coming off of the train that he was supposed to get on in a couple of hours, was his brother with his arms around some blond with a bad dye job. 'No wonder I couldn't get a hold of him.' Jax looked closer at the woman. For some reason, he felt that he should know her. Just when they were starting to get close enough that he could see her face, she stopped and turned her back to him, then leaned into Jerry.  
  
Jerry and Skye had just gotten off of the train and were walking toward the exits when Skye stopped and turned to him and gave him an unexpected hug. For a second, he was completely shocked until she looked up at him. "Jax is here." Skye said  
  
Jerry stiffened. "Where?" He looked around, but didn't see him in the crowds.  
  
"I don't know. But I can practically feel him. He is nearby."  
  
Jerry gave a little smirk. "Aren't you being just a little bit paranoid? I mean. What are the chances that my brother would be in the same train station at the same time as us? I mean I just talked to him this morning. If anything, he is flying to Seville to check out his most current lead on you. There is no reason that he would be in Madrid."  
  
"I'm telling you, he's here and he's close. I can practically feel it."  
  
"Jerry" Jerry heard his brother shout. He turned his head a little to the left and saw his brother coming toward him. 'Oh Shit. How the hell did she know?'  
  
"Go talk to your brother Jerry. I'll be by the ladies restroom when you're through." As a crowd of people from the train came by, Skye let go of Jerry and put herself in the middle of this moving mass of people. Jerry watched as one minute she was there and the next she was lost in the crowds.  
  
Feeling slightly nervous, having Skye out of his sight, and guilty for leaving Jax in the dark, Jerry turned to face his brother and gave him a quick hug. "Hey Jax" Jerry said with a smile, "I didn't expect to see you today. What's up?"  
  
Jax took one look at Jerry and asked, "That depends, what's wrong?"  
  
Jerry laughed. "Now why would you think that something was wrong? It's an excellent day. The cops in this country aren't currently after me and I finally get to see my little brother after how long?"  
  
"That would have been your last non-wedding, due to the fact that the cops showed up and arrested you right before you said your I do's. Bobby's doing well, by the way."  
  
"I know. We exchange e-mails."  
  
"After that stunt, I'm surprised she even still talks to you. So what's wrong? Don't bother saying nothing. I know you. You have that same look that you get every time that you are up to something. Which means that if you aren't in any trouble already, you soon will be."  
  
"Jax, I am more than old enough to take care of myself."  
  
"I notice that you aren't denying that you are up to something."  
  
"What would be the point?"  
  
"Anything to do with the Blond with the bad hair do I saw hugging you?"  
  
"Don't you have your own woman to worry about?"  
  
"Ahh, so it does have something to do with the Blond."  
  
"Let's just say that I'm trying to take a sheet from your book and play the knight in shining armour to her damsel in distress. So what brings you my way?"  
  
"Skye cashed a check in Seville. I'm headed that way now. I tried to call you to get your help tracking her down."  
  
"I was probably already checked out."  
  
"And you don't look to surprised to hear that Skye was in Seville."  
  
"Well she had to be somewhere."  
  
Jax started swearing as the pieces started to fall into place in his mind. "Why the hell didn't you call me? You knew how worried I was and that I was looking for her."  
  
"Jax, do you want to clue me in on what you're talking about?"  
  
"How could I be so stupid? That red head that you called me about, that was Skye."  
  
"Jax, there are a lot of woman with red hair in this world. I know. I've dated a good portion of them. The fact that I would go out with one while you were searching for your ex doesn't mean that the woman that I went out with is your ex-wife."  
  
"There aren't that many red headed woman that I have introduced to my parents. For that matter, there aren't that many woman period that I have introduced to my parents. That alone should have clued me in. Where is she, Jerry?"  
  
"You seem to be jumping to an awful lot of conclusions here. Among other things, I've never met Skye."  
  
"Which accounts for the phone call asking me questions about a red head calling herself Toni."  
  
"And Skye never met me. She had no way of finding me. Think about it for a second. Even if she did go to Seville, it is a large town. She had no way of knowing I was there."  
  
"The blond. She was the right height and build. Hell, she even felt familiar to me and that was just from a glance from a distance."  
  
"Now Jax."  
  
"Where is she, Jerry?"  
  
"Yes Jerry, do tell us, where is she?" Jax stiffened as he felt a gun being pressed to his back.  
  
"Chris, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Jax asked.  
  
"My job. Now Jerry, I suggest that you start talking if you want your brother to walk out of here alive."  
  
Jerry glared at Chris. "You won't shoot him here. There are to many witnesses. You would never make it out of here."  
  
"I don't need to make it out of here. I just need that little bit of information. It's worth a mint."  
  
"But even if Jerry does tell you Chris, you will never get that information to Alcazar before Skye disappears again. Why would he bother bailing out an operative that failed by showing his hand this miserably?" Jax reasoned.  
  
"Have you seen the jails in this country? Trust me, foreign jails are nothing like the US. The jails in the US are almost luxury hotels in comparison." Jerry added.  
  
--  
  
Skye was starting to get bored waiting by the restrooms. She considered leaving her hiding place between the ladies room and the shops when she heard someone walk by mention Alcazar's name. Skye moved herself up against the wall as she heard that person stop just a few feet in front of her. Her heart pounded in her chest. For a second, she thought he had found her, but when he kept talking she realized that he was just taking advantage of the relative quite of the area, to use the phone. Skye would have let out a sigh of relief if she hadn't been afraid that the noise might catch his attention. Instead, she leaned in closer to try to catch what was being said.  
  
"Yes Sir. Jax is in Madrid and he is taking the train to Seville. He should be there in about an hour and a half. Jerry? According to Jax, she doesn't know him. He tried to call Jerry in Seville, but he hasn't gotten an answer. She's with Jerry? Is Alcazar sure? Oh they were seen on tape at the hotel. They stayed at the same hotel? Yes, I guess he is pretty sure. No Jax can't hear me. He's over by the trains. I can see him from here. Ahh, Sir? Jerry's here and he is talking to Jax. What? Which Jacks brother? They are both here. Both of them? I realize that he's tired of the interference but wouldn't be useful to keep one of them alive to lead us to her? But this is to public? There are to many people here. To many witnesses. No offence, but I don't want the jail time. How much? Yes, that would be worth a little bit of jail time. How long before I would get out? Yes, sir. Consider it done."  
  
Skye's life took on an almost surreal quality as she watched the man carefully pull a gun out of the bag he was carrying and stick it in his pocket. Keeping a few paces behind him, she followed him across the crowded path. She held a place further back as he came up behind Jax. Skye looked around for options and noticed the guards by the metal detectors at the train platforms. Skye carefully skirted around the argument and went up to the guards.  
  
"Yes mademoiselle, how can I help you?"  
  
"Ah, sir, I have a bit of a situation. You see, I caught my husband over there, the blond in the blue shirt, with his mistress Brenda. And my brother, the guy right behind him found out. He has a bit of a temper. I know that it isn't your job to get in the middle of domestic disputes but I know that he stuck a gun in his right pocket when he left the house. He's just angry enough that he might use it in this crowd." Skye quickly blurted out.  
  
The officer swore and got on the radio. "Don't worry Madame. We will take care of this situation. Wait here."  
  
---  
  
Skye watched with worried eyes as the guards moved in to tackle the man behind Jax. She held her breath and her stomach dropped when she heard the screams as the officers grabbed his arm from behind and the gun went off. Then she couldn't see anything. The crowds made it impossible. Everyone was moving away from the sound of gunshot, blocking her view. The mass of bodies between her and Jax were to thick to get through. Not knowing what was happening was killing her. Skye looked around for an alternative and noticed the crosswalk above. That she thought she could get to. A few moments later, she was climbing the steps to the walkway. She paused for just a moment as she heard the sirens outside the building. Praying that she did the right thing when she talked to those officers, she continued moving up the stairs. Half dreading what she would see when she reached the top, she forced herself onto the walkway and looked down.  
  
She started laughing. Whoever that idiot was, the only thing that he had managed to shoot was himself in the foot. She watched the Jerk as he sat down and shouted as the attendant tried to stop the bleeding. Jax was talking to one of the officers, not far away. Where was Jerry? When she couldn't locate him anywhere in the area, I turned and looked over the other side of the ramp. After a couple of minutes, she spotted him making his way towards where she had originally said she would be.  
  
Skye pulled out a piece of paper from her purse and wrote down where Jerry should meet her. Then practicing a science she had perfected during some rather boring classes as a child, she pulled out a couple more sheets of paper and made three paper airplanes. The first one she threw to get the direction of the breeze. The second one had Jerry's attention. He looked up and soon located her on the ramp.  
  
Jerry signalled his hands to tell her that he was coming to her, but Skye shook her head and held up the third airplane. She pointed at the airplane then pointed at him. He nodded his head, understanding that she wanted him to get this one. She threw the third airplane and laughed as it went over his head and landed directly behind him.  
  
Skye looked around startled as she heard a few cheers. Apparently Jerry wasn't the only one who had noticed her antics. Several bored people sitting around the waiting area were watching too. She noticed that a couple of children were now running around with the other two airplanes. A third child had run up, picked up the third airplane and handed it to Jerry. Jerry opened the plane, read the message, folded it back up and gave it back to the kid to play with. Jerry looked back up at me nodded, and started toward the area she had written on the plane.  
  
Before starting back down the stairs to meet Jerry, Skye took one last look over the other side at Jax. He was still talking to the officer. Just for a moment, he looked up, met Skye's eyes, and smiled. Skye smiled back. Just for that moment, everything bad that ever happened between them was pushed aside. With that one look, Skye was back in that safe place that Jax's presence always seemed to create for her.  
  
Then reality, in the form of one of her paper airplanes, intervened. One of them had literally hit her in the back of her head. Skye picked it up, turned around and saw a couple of kids waving their arms around for her to throw it back down. Skye shook her head, laughed and threw the plane. Then she left to meet up with Jerry.  
  
-- Sorry everyone. I'm going on vacation. I'll be back sometime in July. Take a break and read someone else's stories. 


	15. chapter 15

Jerry sat in his seat across from Skye on the train and watched her ignore him. Something was eating at Skye. She hadn't spoken more than a few sentences to him in a few of days and it was starting to get annoying. She wasn't rude, at least not obviously so. If he asked anything, she would look up and answer him. The difference was, she wasn't offering anything. On the train between Seville and Madrid, Skye had been a witty conversationalist. They had talked about everything from the politics of the European Union to the charges that kept him from returning to the US. She had a rather well informed opinion on everything.  
  
He had an idea about what was eating away at her. This all started when she saw him talking to Jax in Madrid. We had gone there to avoid seeing him and he turned up at the train station at the same time they were there when he was supposed to be flying to Seville to find her. If the situation had been reversed, even he would have suspected a conspiracy. But as of yet, she hadn't said a word about it. She just sat there, reading her latest magazine, doing her best to look interested in what she was reading. It might be more convincing if she would turn the page more than once an hour. Skye's version of the silent treatment was starting to get to Jerry.  
  
"So where are we going next?"  
  
Skye looked up from the magazine page that she had been staring at for the last fifteen minutes without actually seeing it. "Arles." She said then looked back down.  
  
"Wait. Isn't that backtracking? We passed it when we came up from Spain."  
  
"It was to hot."  
  
"That's your reason. It was to hot. In case you hadn't noticed, the last city we stayed in was in it's high ninety's." Jerry said in disbelief  
  
"You don't spend much time in the south of France do you?"  
  
"On the contrary, I've passed many months in the south of France."  
  
"Let me guess. Cannes, or maybe you went skiing in the French Alps."  
  
Jerry laughed. "I find the view when I am skiing down the slopes to be breathtaking. Now that I think about it, so is the view of the beaches."  
  
"Yes, I can definitely see how miles of beaches of topless sunbathing women would appeal to you."  
  
Jerry just grinned. "I'm willing to bet that at some point in time, you were one of them."  
  
Skye gave Jerry one of the first genuine smiles he had seen in days. She nodded. "When I was younger, I used to try to get a tan. I always burned. It's the hair. I gave it up when I decided that a tan wasn't worth that much painful punishment. I'm glad for it now, I know a lot of woman my age that have rough skin due to all the sunbathing."  
  
"If you didn't belong to my brother, I would be tempted to find out just how smooth that skin of yours is." Jerry said while looking at her appreciatively.  
  
Skye's back stiffened up and her face went completely blank. "I don't belong to anyone, especially not to your brother."  
  
Jerry groaned inward. 'Why the hell didn't I keep my trap shut while I was ahead and had her smiling at me?' Jerry thought. 'Since she is already upset, I might as well bring it up.' "Speaking of my brother, aren't you the least bit curious about what we talked about at the airport?"  
  
Jerry could see all the conflicting emotions running around her head in her eyes. "Come on Skye, I know you want to say something about him being there."  
  
Skye glared at Jerry. She still wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Jax at the station in Madrid. On one hand, it was a relief to see Jax standing there. She had been worried ever since she found out about the babies that Luis would kill him to keep him out of the picture. That unreasonable part of her that she kept crammed behind a tightly closed door had jumped for joy. She still loved the bastard. There wasn't anything that she wanted more than to be able to through her arms around him, hear him tell her that he loved her and that he finally got that witch out of his system.  
  
On the other hand, Jax brought trouble. Skye could never be sure that he really loved her and wasn't just getting carried away with his white night persona, especially after the way he treated her when that fake Brenda showed up. That woman had known too much about the people in Port Charles and everything that happened all those years ago to the original. There is only one place she could have gotten that information. The real Brenda was still alive. There was another voice screaming inside her head saying that if Jax could treat her like that when a fake shows up, she wouldn't stand a chance against the real thing. After all, everyone she ever loved abandoned her, usually when she needed their support the most. That voice screamed louder than ever that she couldn't trust anyone.  
  
"So Jerry, did it bother you at all when you arrange that little rendezvous with Jax? Did you give that promise you made me about not telling him where I was any thought at all?"  
  
"Skye, It's not how it looked."  
  
Skye held up her hand for Jerry to stop talking. "No, no, I don't really blame you. The more I think about it, I see that you have known and loved your little brother for years. You just meet me. Your bond with him is bound to be stronger than any promise you made to me. Of course you would want to tell him about the baby and get me back together with him. It sure explains why Jax is suddenly so eager to find me."  
  
"Skye look at me. Look at me. I did not tell him where to find you."  
  
"Jerry, he was waiting at the train practically when we got off."  
  
"His plane had problems. He landed in Madrid. He was taking the next train to Seville. It was just one of those strange coincidences."  
  
"I don't believe in coincidences. I really wish you wouldn't feel the need to make excuses. You're brothers and you're both Jacks. It is natural that you would stand up for each other. That is what the people in your family do when trouble comes along."  
  
"That's right. The Jacks family does stand up for each other. You are a part of this family."  
  
"Not anymore. I never really was. Jax just lent me his family's name for a few weeks."  
  
"You are a part of this family. Just because Jax had a momentary lapse of sanity doesn't change that fact. Jax said I do and signed on the dotted line. That made you a Jax for life."  
  
"Yeah, right. That's why he went running to Brenda."  
  
"A woman he has arranged two marriage ceremonies for yet never managed to marry. That should have told him something. I remember when his first wife had an accident and decided to let Jax go on believing that she was dead. Our parents supported her. They still do."  
  
"Just wait a minute. Everyone in Port Charles was telling me how Brenda was the first and only great love of Jax's life. Are you telling me that there was life before Brenda?"  
  
"Indeed there was. Her name is Miranda. They have been divorced for years now but Jane still treats the woman like a daughter. So you see, you don't get out of this family that easy. Plus, we now have two additional members to the Jacks family on the way. That means when I'm protecting you, I'm actually protecting three members of this family. That gives you priority over my brother."  
  
"I'm only carrying one Jacks baby."  
  
"You're carrying two. You're a Jacks now Skye, therefore so is any child that comes from you. Ask anyone in this family, they will tell you the same thing. Beside, in this case, the biological contributor to your other child's DNA, is not going to have a chance to get anywhere near this child. One way or another, we will find a way to put a stop to him."  
  
Jerry pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears that had started falling down Skye's face. "Now what are these tears for?"  
  
"I want so badly to believe you."  
  
"Then do. This family will back you. I know Jax screwed up but at least give us the chance to get it right this time."  
  
Skye yawned. Jerry grinned. "I'm not boring you, am I?"  
  
"I'm sorry, with all these emotions, I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster and I'm exhausted."  
  
"Well, that's allowed. Why don't you take a short nap?"  
  
Skye shook her head. "I can't get comfortable in this chair. I will take one when we get to the hotel."  
  
"Speaking of which, why are we going to Arles?"  
  
"I'm going to see a doctor there."  
  
"And the reason we didn't go there first was because?"  
  
"It was to hot. It's a small town, no five star hotels, even less air conditioning. That area is never good to be in when it's that hot. We also have to contend with the winds. It was the heat and the winds of this area that drove Van Gogh insane enough to chop off his ears."  
  
"You have got to be kidding. No one goes crazy because of a little heat and winds."  
  
"Van Gogh did. He's not the only one. I can't even stay in this area for more than a couple of weeks before it drives me a little batty. The winds are special here. They have a history of driving some people to insanity."  
  
"Any you want to go here?"  
  
Skye smiled at the disbelief in his voice. "It has its advantages. I'll take you sightseeing."  
  
"Is it anything like the caves at Lascaux II? How did they come up with that anyway?"  
  
"The original Lascaux was found by four young boys who were playing with their dog in 1940."  
  
"I wonder what they thought when they found the paintings on the wall from the ice age. But that doesn't explain why they copied the paintings onto another cave wall and called it Lascaux II."  
  
"The original Lascaux is deteriorating from all the carbon dioxide humans breath out. Everyone wants to see the cave paintings so they duplicated them on another cave and closed down the original site to protect it."  
  
"So basically you just dragged me to see a bunch of copies of the Paleolithic cave paintings."  
  
"They are authentic reproductions painted in the same materials as the original. Personally, I think it is amazing that they can produce paintings on cave walls in the same fashion they used in the Ice Age."  
  
"So if I gave you an authentic reproduction of a Van Gogh painting?"  
  
"I would probably break it over you're head because you would be doing it to annoy me. Besides, until I told you that they were reproductions, you were having a blast."  
  
"Okay, I admit, it was fun."  
  
"You will have fun in Arles too." 


	16. ch16

"Mr. Jacks, you are free to go."  
  
Jax looked up from the bench he had been sitting on. "Thank you for coming down here so quickly, Mark. I know how busy you are."  
  
"It wasn't a problem. There isn't much going on at the Embassy today. The ambassador is spending the day at the golf course. I don't have any meetings that can't wait. Besides, bailing you out is the least I can do for an old friend. It's almost like the old days back in Australia. Miranda would find trouble. You would go rushing into save the day. I would bail you out. And of course Miranda would come out of it smelling like a rose."  
  
"Except for that last time." Jax frowned, thinking about those days.  
  
"It was bound to catch up to her sooner or later. She liked to live on the wild side. There wasn't anything anyone could do about that. That explosion she was caught in wasn't your fault. Miranda was dealing with a rough crowd."  
  
"We left her there. She was still alive in that rumble and we left her there, Mark."  
  
"We didn't know that. It's not like we had time to dig her out. If we had stayed, we would be dead too. It all worked out in the end. Even Miranda went on to new and better scams. You should have seen the scandal she caused a couple years later in Morocco."  
  
"Just wait a minute. You knew too?"  
  
"Knew what?"  
  
"That Miranda was alive." Jax looked at the guilty expression on his friend's face and lowered his head to his hands for a second. "First my parents and now you. Was there anyone else out there besides me who wasn't aware that my WIFE had survived that explosion."  
  
Mark remained silent.  
  
Jax looked at Mark in disbelief. "You all knew?"  
  
Mark nodded his head.  
  
"And none of you thought that maybe it might be a good time to tell me about it! My God! I was a wreak when I thought she died."  
  
"Oh come on. You got over it. You even went on to what's her name."  
  
"Brenda."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"It never occurred to any of you to tell me that she was alive and I was still legally married to Miranda before I married Brenda?"  
  
"If we had known that you were going to marry the brainless chit, then someone might have spoken up. It's not as if you sent out wedding announcements. You took out on a boat and married her. We contacted Miranda as soon as we knew."  
  
"It cost me Brenda."  
  
"Jax, has it never occurred to you that losing a woman who would run to another man every time there is a problem, wasn't that great of a loss? Besides, It isn't Brenda that you are chasing right now."  
  
"That's besides the point."  
  
"Is it?"  
  
"You all lied to me."  
  
"Isn't that like the cat calling the kettle black."  
  
Jax looked at Mark. "I haven't a clue what you are talking about."  
  
"How about that time in Reno when you decided that it was in my best interest not to find my girlfriend."  
  
"Ex-girlfriend."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Jax had to decency to look a little guilty at the memory. "I guess that didn't turn out so well."  
  
"It could have gone a lot better if you had just told me where she was instead of hiding her."  
  
"Perhaps. Do you really think that you could have stopped her from having that abortion?"  
  
"We will never know now."  
  
"You weren't even sure that the child was yours Mark. Come to think of it neither was she."  
  
"But it might have been. The point it, we all do things that in retrospect probably wasn't the best decision we could have made at the time. We argued. We fought. It's in the past. Would you really break up a good friendship over a past mistake that doesn't really matter anymore?"  
  
"No, but it makes me wonder about a few other things that came up that you swore you knew nothing about."  
  
"I've never not told you something that wasn't in your best interest."  
  
Jax looked at his friend. "Somehow that doesn't sound to reassuring."  
  
"Screw reassuring. Aren't you ready to get out of here?"  
  
Jax shook his head. "No. There is something I need to do first. Do you think that you could arrange a few minutes for me to talk to Chris alone?"  
  
Mark looked as Jax slightly confused. "I probably could. I will play the brother in law card. The people here tend to like it when families make amends. By the way, how did the police here get the impression that he was your brother in law?"  
  
"Skye apparently told the policemen that took Chris down that her brother was going after her cheating husband with a gun."  
  
"Well that is good news. She must still care if she took the time to stop someone from shooting you."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"I will see what I can arrange."  
  
Twenty minutes later, Mark escorted Jax to a private room where Chris was handcuffed to a chair.  
  
"You will have twenty minutes with him then they need the room back."  
  
"Thanks Mark."  
  
"Don't thank me. You are paying a hundred for the privilege. I will just take it out of your wallet when I pick it up for you."  
  
"In that case, you better get to it before the guards do."  
  
"I'm on my way."  
  
Mark looked at the two men and said, "Play nice," before he closed the door.  
  
Jax turned his attention to the man handcuffed to the chair. "Why?"  
  
"Why what? Why throw my lot in with Alcazar? You haven't a clue who you are dealing with."  
  
"How long Chris? You have been doing work for me for three years. How long have you been taking orders from Alcazar? Exactly how much did he pay you to switch loyalties?"  
  
Chris started laughing. "Are you kidding? Alcazar is the only reason I started working for you. That's right. I'm a plant. Alcazar knew that far back that he would be going to Port Charles and he had his people in place long before he got there."  
  
"Who else? How many people who work for me are on Alcazar's payroll?"  
  
"That's the beauty of it. You have no way of know whom it is that you can trust. It could be anyone. They will loyally follow your orders to the letter until the day comes that they get that little phone call. Then they will stab you in the back. You won't have a clue who it will be coming from. I'm definitely looking forward to the day that they strike you down."  
  
"You bastard."  
  
"Do you want some advice on how do deal with Alcazar? Here's my advice. Go home. You leave him and what he considers his alone and he might let you live."  
  
"Not a chance in hell. That crazy bastard isn't getting my wife."  
  
"Ex-wife, remember? You divorced her when we threw a fake Brenda in front of your path. You couldn't drop Skye fast enough. Alcazar may be nuts but he's also smart. You haven't a clue about the lengths he would go to."  
  
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. He destroyed that woman's life when he took her away from her family and made her into Brenda."  
  
"And how do you suppose he did that? Her memories were extremely detailed. More detailed than the reports on Brenda's life could give us. On no, Alcazar need the real thing in order to get the correct memories into his imposter."  
  
"Brenda's dead."  
  
"How many times did she bring up things that only the two of you knew? If Brenda were really dead, where do you suppose we got that information?"  
  
"NO. I won't go though that again. I made the mistake of abandoning the women I was with twice to chase after Brenda's shadow. The first time it cost Chloe her life and the second it cost my marriage to Skye. I won't do it again. I won't abandon Skye to chase a phantom."  
  
"So, you are just going to leave poor Brenda, the love of your life, at the mercy of your enemy."  
  
"If she is still alive, I wish her all the luck in the world. But chasing her ghost has cost me and everyone around me too much. Good bye, Chris. Oh and a small piece of advise. I suggest you stay out of my path, because if I ever see you again, I will destroy you."  
  
Mark and Jax were just about to leave the station when one of the police officers came running up with a package. Mark spoke to him for a moment, took the package, then handed it to Jax.  
  
"According to the officer, this was delivered here for you." Mark stated.  
  
"Who would have known that I was here?" Jax asked.  
  
"Don't look at me. I didn't tell anyone."  
  
Jax opened the package and a cell phone fell out with a note. Jax read the note and laughed. "It's from Jerry. He says that I have a tap on my other phone so he sent me a clean one."  
  
"Didn't you tell me that he is traveling with Skye? That's good news then. He must be planing on contacting you."  
  
"I hope so. " 


	17. chapter 17

'That went well,' Skye thought smugly as she carried her precious package back to the hotel where she and Jerry were staying. It had only taken the doctor three days and a lot of money to get the medicine she needed. She was even reasonably sure that he wouldn't call Alcazar for the reward he was offering for information on her whereabouts for at least a couple of days. She had paid him handsomely for his silence. Though she didn't believe that he would keep his silence permanently, she did believe that Jerry had struck enough fear into the bastard that first day to keep him away from the phone until they left town. Skye didn't believe that Jerry would actually kill anyone, but for those few moments that Jerry had held that doctor at gunpoint Jerry even had her convinced that he would track the doctor down if anything bad happened. The doctor and Jerry had quickly come to an arrangement. Her she was, four days later, with all the medication she would need for the duration of the pregnancy.  
  
As Skye let herself into the room, Jerry was hanging up the phone. He smiled as he saw her walk in. "Did you get what you needed?" Jerry asked.  
  
Skye grinned and held up the bag. "I have everything I need plus some to spare."  
  
Jerry looked questioningly at the small bag in her hand. Skye handed it to him and he poured the bottles onto the counter. As he inspected the medication he asked, "Skye, are you sure the guy got this right? Some of these pills don't look anything like what you are taking." He held up a bottle to show her.  
  
"That's because the medication changes at various stages in this pregnancy. It's all there. According to the file, I should be moving on to the next medication in a few weeks."  
  
"When will that be?" Jerry looked worried.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure."  
  
Skye could tell from to look on his face that he didn't like her answer.  
  
"It's not so easy to just pick the date. The file has specifically marked out developmental stages for the medication changes. Unfortunately, these babies aren't on the same schedule. They were conceived almost two weeks apart. It would be logical to assume that they aren't hitting these stages at the same time. Switching medications will be tricky."  
  
"Skye, if you need to be in a hospital, I know a few in Canada. I guarantee that the doctors are loyal to my family."  
  
"Jerry, I'm pregnant, not sick."  
  
"But it sounds to me like you need medical care. Let's face it, I wouldn't trust any of the doctors you have on that list considering who gave it to you."  
  
Skye shook her head. "I never should have told you where I got this list."  
  
"I'm glad you did. What were you thinking?"  
  
"He was a brilliant doctor at one time and they haven't been able to prove anything."  
  
"The only thing that kept that man out of prison was that no one could find the bodies."  
  
Skye walked to the window to avoid looking Jerry in the eye. "The doctors on this list are exactly the kind I need. They are used to dealing with unorthodox procedures."  
  
"You mean illegal procedures," Jerry interrupted.  
  
Skye turned to face Jerry. "Okay, fine, perhaps they are illegal procedures, but do you really thing that what was done to me was approved by any medical board? These doctors are used to thinking outside that narrow box of what is and isn't allowed and what is and isn't possible. I was told a long time ago that I would never carry a child to term." Skye pulled the medical folder from her purse and slapped it down in front of him. "This, whatever it is, made it possible."  
  
"You almost sound grateful to Alcazar."  
  
"Don't get me wrong. I would still like to get the jerk out of my life. Luis never asks. He just does what he wants. There are no limits to how far he will go to get what he wants. You name it. Murder, blackmail, drugs, bribery, there isn't any lengths that he wouldn't stoop to. But that doesn't change the fact that I probably would have miscarried Jax's baby if he hadn't played God."  
  
"So you feel what, grateful?"  
  
"No, not grateful. The last time that I was pregnant, all the doctors told me that attempting to carryout the pregnancy would be extremely high risk. The accident that caused that miscarriage caused even more internal scaring. Luis was responsible for that, just as he was responsible for the first accident that caused the problem in the first place. Luis spiked my drink. I was running from him when I got into that car. It was whatever he slipped into my drink that caused me to hit that tree all those years ago. He and his stupid games cost me my ability to have children. No, I don't feel gratitude. He owed me these children. Now that I have them, I'm going to do whatever I have to, including seeing unethical, yet brilliant, doctors, to keep them. So will you be coming with me or do I have to leave you behind with your brother."  
  
"I'm coming with you of course. But try to keep in mind that if they are as unethical as you believe them to be, they may call Alcazar for the reward."  
  
"Yes, I know."  
  
"And?"  
  
"There isn't any guarantees here. If I go to any hospital, Alcazar will know the second they put my name into there computer system."  
  
"So we can go to someone who is in private practice."  
  
"Jerry, they have computers at home now to."  
  
"We pay in cash and give a false name."  
  
"Jerry, aren't you forgetting something?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Skye held up the medical folder and Jerry started to swear. "It doesn't matter who we go to or what name we use. As soon as they read this file, and they are going to have to read this file in order to know how to treat me, an ethical doctors is going to have to report this. At the very least he will share his medical findings with his fellow doctors."  
  
"The second they do, Alcazar will know where we are. If we go to an ethical doctor, we get reported to the authorities. If we go to an unethical one we run the risk of meeting up with one whom is on Alcazar's payroll. "  
  
"We are pretty much screwed either way. It's kind of depressing to think about."  
  
Jerry looked at Skye. "All these depressing thoughts can't be good for my future nephews."  
  
Skye looked amused. "Nephews? I could be having girls."  
  
"Nonsense, the Jacks family has sons. It's tradition. We rely on the males to bring females into the family."  
  
"Oh please, I know when I'm being feed a load of crap."  
  
"No, it's true. Ask Mom and Dad. They can pull out the family tree to prove it. We Jacks males, only sire boys."  
  
"Just for that, I'm having girls."  
  
"That's what Mom used to say to Dad. Yet she only had boys."  
  
"You really expect me to believe that I'm going to have boys because no Jax male has sired a girl? I'm going to have to take a look at this family tree of yours."  
  
"Fine with me. You will see. I am right."  
  
"Just wait a minute. I distinctly remember Jax telling me about this female cousin of his that you dragged along on one of your misadventures."  
  
"Cousin by marriage, not blood. My uncle married her mother and she went on to have two more boys." Jerry said rather smugly.  
  
Skye looked down and patted her tummy. "Did you here that? This is your mother telling you that we need to put this arrogant man in his place. So, I need you two to cooperate with me and be girls when you come out." Skye looked up to see Jerry laughing at her. "What?"  
  
"Nothing. I just enjoy how you talk to them."  
  
"All the books that I have read swear that they can hear my voice in my womb."  
  
"Yet I doubt they understand the daily history lessons you have been giving them. First there was the town museum, then the roman theatre, then the arena. Where are we going today?"  
  
"To church."  
  
"To church?"  
  
Skye nodded her head.  
  
"It isn't Sunday, is it?"  
  
"Why would it have to be a Sunday? You don't go then anyway."  
  
"Neither do you. Is there some obscure religious holiday that I missed."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"The heat and the winds haven't gotten to you, have they?"  
  
"Jerry, just come on." ---  
  
Skye led Jerry through the narrow streets to an old church. There really wasn't all that much inside. It was a small one room stone church. There was an alter, a few windows, and no pews. In fact, It was so stark that it practically looked abandoned.  
  
Jerry looked at Skye. "So, do you plan to tell my why we are here?"  
  
Skye just smiled and said, "to soak up the atmosphere."  
  
Jerry looked around for a few minutes more. It didn't take very long. The room was rather small. "Well, I think that I have seen everything."  
  
"Good, so we can go down to the next level."  
  
"The next level?"  
  
Jerry watched as Skye walked over to a small dark staircase leading down to an even darker room. Jerry looked at the rough stone walls at the bottom of the stairs. "Skye? Are you sure that we are allowed to go down there? No offense, but it is barely lit and the floor isn't exactly even. If anything were to happen to you, Jax would kill me."  
  
"Jerry, get down here. You are missing an awesome site."  
  
Jerry made it to the bottom of the stairs in time to see Skye disappear through what appeared to be a hole in the wall.  
  
"Skye are you nuts."  
  
"I thought you liked adventures." Skye called out.  
  
"I do like adventures. I would just like this one a lot more if you weren't pregnant."  
  
"Jerry, it is perfectly safe. I have been down here before."  
  
When Jerry walked through the hole in the wall, he forgot every argument he had been about to use to get her to leave.  
  
"How? Who? How far do these tunnels extend?" Jerry said as he looked around the dimly lit tunnels.  
  
Skye smiled. " I told you that it was an awesome site. The Romans dug them. I'm not sure how far they go but I imagine that they are over a good portion of the town. Though this is the only unsealed entrance to them that I know of."  
  
"These are that old? I'm amazed that they are still here."  
  
"Why? The arena was older. It's still there."  
  
"Yes, but they had reason to keep it around. After they stopped using it for fights they filled in the openings and turned it into a fort."  
  
"Yes, well, the tunnels had their uses also."  
  
"Smugglers."  
  
"Yes, that is probably a good bet considering that we are next to a river. During world war on and two the resistance use to hide in these tunnels."  
  
"You know, I would love to explore these tunnels."  
  
"Why do I hear a but coming?"  
  
"Because I'm not going to drag my brother's pregnant ex-wife through tunnels that are what one thousand seven hundred something years old. Besides, It's almost three."  
  
"Ah yes, we can't forget to call Jax."  
  
"I thought that you didn't have a problem with my calls to Jax."  
  
"As long as you can continue to stay one step of Alcazar."  
  
Skye and Jerry started walking back to the hotel room.  
  
"So how is Jax?"  
  
"I thought that you didn't want to know."  
  
Skye glared at Jerry. "You have been slowly wearing me down for days to give your brother another chance. Are you really gong to deny me now that I'm actually asking? And wipe that smug look off of your face."  
  
"I have good reason to be smug. I'm making progress on both ends."  
  
"And what is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"You are beginning to show interest in you husband."  
  
"Ex-husband"  
  
"And my little brother is beginning to show signs that his head is screwed on straight."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Alcazar has been dropping hints all around him that the real Brenda is still alive and out there. He has basically told him to go to hell. I think he has finally gotten her out of his system."  
  
"Bloody Hell!"  
  
"What? I thought that you would be happy about this. Jax has finally gotten his priorities straight. He wants to be with you."  
  
"Yeah right. The last time that Jax decided that I was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Brenda showed up. He ran to her and away from me as fast as his conscience would allow."  
  
"Yes, but he got her out of his system."  
  
"No, it turned out that she wasn't the real thing. Now let's assume for a moment that we do find a way to take out Alcazar. Jax will come rushing back to me and like the white night that he is, he will probably try to remarry me. After all, I'm the girl of the hour. I'm his damsel in distress. I'm the one that needs rescuing from the bad guy."  
  
Jerry looked at Skye in disbelief. "You hardly need rescuing. From what I have seen, you are perfectly capable of getting yourself out of trouble."  
  
"Thank you for at least recognizing that little fact. When this is all over, Jax is going to have some time to start thinking. Probably sooner rather than latter, it is going to start nagging him in the back of his mind that Brenda is still out there. Alcazar is just waiting for him to do it. I'm willing to bet that he would be walking straight into a trap."  
  
"He already faced that devil."  
  
"No he faced an impostor. If I couldn't compete against the memory of Brenda, how the hell am I going to measure up against the real person."  
  
"You're not giving either Jax of yourself enough credit."  
  
"No, I think Jax wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't make sure that she was okay. He may be able to ignore it now because he is focused on the danger to me, but eventually he will go after her. I know him Jerry. I know how he thinks. "  
  
"If you're so sure, what do you plan to do about it?"  
  
"Jerry, I think that we should find Brenda and rescue her before Jax gets there." 


	18. ch18

"Will you tell me again why we are here?" Jerry said as he followed Skye through the hall.  
  
Skye gave an exasperated sigh. "We are trying to save your brother from his misplaced white knight tendencies. And why am I even bothering to try and explain myself again?"  
  
"Yes, I understand that. But why Julia Barrett?"  
  
"She's her sister."  
  
"She grieved just like the rest of us when Brenda went off of that cliff."  
  
"I need information on how Brenda thinks. Her last remaining relative seems like a good place to start."  
  
"From what I can remember, they didn't get along all that well. Jax mentioned once that they weren't raised together."  
  
"Family is still family. I find it hard to believe that she wouldn't have contacted her sister during that time in some way."  
  
"If Brenda had contacted Julia, Julia would have called Jax. Everyone knew that he was looking for her."  
  
"Are you so sure about that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"If I disappeared like Brenda disappeared, I would find some way to contact my brother AJ. I also would tell him not to tell anyone. Do you know what? He wouldn't tell anyone. That would most definitely include some past significant other."  
  
"Skye, Julia Barrett isn't AJ."  
  
"I'm willing to bet that she would keep Brenda's secret from Jax."  
  
"If you are right and she does know where Brenda is, she's not about to tell us."  
  
"I agree. I don't think that she will tell us anything."  
  
"So the reason for coming here is?"  
  
"Like I said, if someone came looking for me via my brother, he wouldn't say anything. But he would call me or contact me as soon as whoever was out of the house to let me know who it was."  
  
"I assume that you have a plan."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Do you want to let me in on it?"  
  
Skye stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out something and showed it to Jerry.  
  
Jerry looked at Skye in amazement. "You're going to bug Julia's house."  
  
"It would take to long to trip her up. We can't stick around very long. Alcazar's on our tail. With these, all we have to do is shake her up a little bit and she will make a phone call."  
  
"Do you even know how to use those?"  
  
"What's to know? We get in the house. We distract Julia. I plant the things in her phones and around her house. We leave. Julia will turn around and call Brenda."  
  
"That's assuming that Julia knows where she is and Alcazar doesn't have her."  
  
"She knows and Alcazar doesn't have Brenda on his leash. I'm willing to make a bet on it."  
  
"I got a better idea. You distract Julia. I'll plant the bugs."  
  
"You will? Thank you. It is so generous of you to volunteer."  
  
Jerry looked at the big smile on Skye's face. "You had this planned all along."  
  
Skye shrugged. "Are you kidding? I can't even pick a simple lock. Although I once tried to break into Jax's safe to steal a map."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Long story. Needless to say, I don't have the skills. I have always been better with distractions than with hardware." Skye placed the electronics into his hands. "I believe that her door is just down this hall."  
  
Skye knocked on the door and waited. A tall blond woman who looked nothing like Brenda opened the door. Skye thought she had the wrong door until Jerry showed up behind her and said, "Hello Julia."  
  
Julia looked confused for a moment. "Do I know you?"  
  
"I know that it has been a long time, but I didn't think that the experience was that unforgettable."  
  
"Ah yes, now I remember. You're the reason my sister got shot." Julia said right before she slammed the door right into Jerry's foot.  
  
Skye looked at Jerry in amusement. "Did you forget to tell me something?"  
  
"Uh, no, not really."  
  
"You got Brenda shot?"  
  
"I was hoping that she had forgotten that little incident. The bullet was actually meant for Jax. Brenda just got in the way."  
  
"That isn't exactly a confidence building statement."  
  
"Can't we talk about this later?"  
  
"You can depend upon it."  
  
Julia growled from the other side of the door. "Will you move your foot?"  
  
Jerry turned to Julia. "I'll move my foot when you open the door."  
  
Julia threw Jerry an annoyed look and opened the door. "What do you want and make it quick."  
  
"Now Julia, that is hardly polite. I haven't even had a chance to introduce my friend."  
  
"If she is a friend of yours, then I'm sure that I'm not missing anything. Fine, come in. Make yourself at home. Apparently I can't stop you." Julia turned to me and held out her hand. "Hello I'm Julia Barrett. I'm sorry for the rude welcome. It's not about you. You very possibly could be a very nice woman. I just assume that because you are with him, that trouble isn't very far behind you."  
  
Skye took her hand. "That's okay. I'm Skye Chandler Quartermaine. In this case, you are absolutely right. Trouble is headed this way."  
  
"That's hardly reassuring."  
  
"Well, since this trouble concerns your sister, I assumed that you would want to know about it."  
  
"This is about my sister?" Julia turned back to Jerry. "You didn't go and get her shot again, did you?"  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you Julia, however this time I have nothing to do with it."  
  
Skye interrupted, "Excuse me, but I've been on my feet for most of the afternoon. Could please impose on you for a glass of water?"  
  
Julia threw up her hands. "Sure. Why not? Please take a seat. I'll be right back. And Jerry, don't get too comfortable."  
  
"I wouldn't dream of it Julia." As Julia left the room, Jerry started unscrewing the phone and quickly planted the bug.  
  
"You know, this won't do any good unless we can get on in her cell phone also."  
  
Skye looked at Jerry. "Don't worry. I have that covered."  
  
"How?"  
  
Skye didn't answer because Julia walked in with a glass for Skye.  
  
"Here you go."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"What? Nothing for me?" Jerry said.  
  
"Be grateful I haven't called security and had you thrown out." Julia turned back to Skye. "You were saying that my sister was in trouble." Suddenly the phone in Julia's pocket rang. "Just a moment. I need to answer this. 'Hello. Oh Hi Jax. Yes your brother is right here.' Jerry, It's for you. I won't even ask how he knew to call here to get you."  
  
Jerry looked at the phone in surprise.  
  
When Jerry didn't immediately take the phone, Skye said, "If you don't answer it, you'll never know what he wants."  
  
Jerry picked up the phone. "Is there someplace where I could have some privacy while I talk to my brother?"  
  
"Sure, anything to get you out of the room." Julia answered. "Just go through that door." Julia pointed to the side.  
  
Jerry thanked her and left the room.  
  
Julia turned back to Skye. "You were going to tell me news about my sister."  
  
"Yes." Skye replied. "I'm sure you heard by now about the imposter in Port Charles."  
  
Julia nodded. "She called me to apologize. She seemed sincere. I hope that she finds where she came from. God knows what her real family is thinking about now."  
  
"It must be horrible for them. There is no limit to how far Luis Alcazar will go when he is after something. That woman's poor family probably believes that she is dead. Of course with your sister still missing, you know how that feels."  
  
"She isn't missing. She is dead."  
  
"I'm not so sure about that."  
  
Julia shook her head. "I gave up hoping for a miracle a long time ago. She isn't coming back."  
  
"After I heard that the woman in Port Charles wasn't Brenda, I did some thinking. That woman knew too much, too many details about Brenda's life. In fact, she knew things that only the real Brenda would have been able to bring up. The only place she could have gotten this information was from the real deal."  
  
"What are you saying? You think that she is alive."  
  
"Luis Alcazar had to have gotten the information somewhere. You have heard of Luis Alcazar, haven't you?"  
  
Julia shook her head. "I'm sorry. I think that I have heard the name somewhere but I can't seem to place it."  
  
"Well, Luis Alcazar is an international gun and drug smuggler. He has his little dirty fingers in all sorts of illegal activities. Somehow, one of those fingers has gotten a firm hold on your sister. I would hate to think about what he is putting her through."  
  
"You think that Luis Alcazar has Brenda?"  
  
"Well, where else could she be? Everyone has such high opinions of the woman. She never would have done something so cruel as to let everyone believe that she was dead if she had the free will to come back. Alcazar must have her. But you don't have to worry. I wouldn't dream of leaving someone in Alcazar's grasp. Jerry and I have come up with a plan. We will bring her home to you."  
  
---  
  
The second they turned the corner down the street, Jerry turned to Skye and asked, "How in the world did you get Jax to call Julia."  
  
"I talked to him, obviously." Skye rolled her eyes.  
  
"When? How? We didn't even know when we would see her today. How did he know when to call?"  
  
"I called him on your phone, while you were in the shower this morning."  
  
"And?" Jerry paused before he got in the car.  
  
"And what?" Skye said from the other side.  
  
"And what did you talk about?"  
  
"That is none of your business." Skye said as she got into the passenger side of the car and closed the door.  
  
Jerry got in next to her and started the car. "Come on. I've been working on you two for weeks. I want details." When Skye continued to say nothing, Jerry added, "I feel like I somehow missed an entire chapter of this romance."  
  
Skye's lips rose slightly in amusement. "Ahh, that's why you have been so attentive to me. Our entertainment value."  
  
"Is that what you think of me?" Jerry teased. "I'll have you know that the reason that I'm here is because you are a beautiful woman in trouble. I would do this for any beautiful woman in trouble. Normally, I would be pursuing some delightful romance to pass the time, however in your case, I find myself living vicariously through you two.  
  
Skye laughed. "Okay, cupid. Take me somewhere to wash this bad taste out of my mouth and I'll consider giving you a few details.  
  
"A bad taste? What caused that?"  
  
"Pretending concern for Brenda to a woman that I'm sure knows where she is. All that lying and sucking up has left a definite bad taste in my mouth."  
  
"You're that sure that she knows where Brenda is?"  
  
"If I'm right, we will know before the hour is out. You wanted to know how he knew when to call. Jax was listening on the receiving side of that bug. He heard the entire conversation."  
  
"No wonder he called at such a convenient time. You two must have had one hell of a conversation this morning."  
  
Skye got a silly smile on her face. "It was okay."  
  
"You don't get a smile like that from just okay."  
  
"It was good to hear from him." Skye's smile turned a little sad. "It's just to bad that I can't see him. Or that he doesn't believe me."  
  
"I understand why you're worried about seeing him. If you got near him it would be like leading Alcazar right to you. But what exactly doesn't he believe?"  
  
"He doesn't believe that Julia has kept Brenda's location secret from him all of these years."  
  
"It's understandable. He went to Julia's house several times over the years to discuss possible places to look and where he would go next."  
  
Skye let out an ironic laugh. "Thereby guaranteeing that he would never find her. Julia was probably telling her where Jax was so she could avoid him."  
  
"Skye, this is a big world. Brenda wouldn't have needed Julia's help to hide from Jax."  
  
"When AJ went into hiding with Courtney, I got ticked off. I said some very cruel things. I basically pushed him away. Jax, in an effort to get in my good graces, picked up a phone and did in one night what Sonny Corinthos couldn't accomplish in a week. He found AJ for me. I went into hiding after I thought that I had killed my grandfather and he had no problem locating the cheap hotel I was staying in. After he walked out and moved in with Brenda, I disappeared and how long did it take him to pick up my trail?"  
  
"He was on your trail about a week after he finally figured out that you were in trouble."  
  
"Exactly. Jax knew Brenda a lot longer and better than he knew me. Yet despite all efforts, he has not been able to find her. She had to have had help."  
  
"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that she turned to Julia. You didn't see Julia when Brenda was lost at sea. She was grieving. She wasn't faking it."  
  
Skye nodded. "Let's assume for a second that Brenda really did go over that bridge with her mother. In order to survive, someone would have had to fish her out. Let's assume that Alcazar really did find her."  
  
"Just wait a minute. Are we talking about the fake Brenda now?"  
  
"Sort of. I've been telling lies for years. The most successful way to hide a lie is in the truth."  
  
"What is really sad is that I understood every word that you just said."  
  
"Have you told a few whoppers over the years Jerry?"  
  
"I've told enough to know that if you tell the person something that they can verify, they are more likely to believe you when you aren't being so truthful."  
  
"Jerry, where were you before I fell in love with Jax?"  
  
"Why"  
  
"If only you had come along first. I think that I fell in love with the wrong Jax brother. You seem to understand what I say much better than he does."  
  
"I bet you guard your tongue more with him than with me."  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Jerry looked over at Skye. "Been there. Done that."  
  
Then the phone rang.  
  
Jerry pulled out the phone. "Hello."  
  
"You wouldn't believe who Julia called the minute you two walked out the door."  
  
Skye leaned over to try to hear who was on the phone. "Is it Jax?" she whispered.  
  
Jerry nodded.  
  
"Did she call Brenda?" Skye asked in the background.  
  
Jerry ignored her as he listened to Jax, "Hi Jax. If she called Brenda right away, why didn't you call us."  
  
"Do we know where she is?" Skye asked Jerry.  
  
Jax continued, "That's just it. She didn't call Brenda the second you walked out. She called Alcazar."  
  
"What? Are you sure?" Jerry asked.  
  
"Is he sure about what?" Skye asked.  
  
Jerry pulled his mouth away from the phone and whispered, "Julia called Alcazar."  
  
"What?" Skye screeched that out loud enough that Jax heard her.  
  
"Skye's there? Good. Then you won't have to find her. Julia called him by a different name, Jerry, but I'm sure it was him. It's possible that she isn't aware of who he really is. You're still going to want to get out of there right away." Jax replied.  
  
"We are all packed up. Our bags are in the trunk. Damn. Skye was counting on Julia calling Brenda right away to give us our next destination."  
  
"I hate it when people use my name in the third person when I'm standing right next to them." Skye said as she grabbed for the phone in Jerry's hand.  
  
As Jerry pulled to phone out of her reach, he heard Jax say, "If you are looking for a place to go, I suggest Wisconsin."  
  
Jerry pulled the phone back to his ear. "Why?"  
  
"That was the location of the second phone call that Julia made. She placed a call to some little town called Belmont."  
  
"She talked to Brenda." Jerry said that to confirm what he just heard Jax say and to let Skye know what was going on.  
  
"Where is she?" Skye asked.  
  
Jerry whispered Wisconsin as Jax continued to talk. "No, she talked about her. It sounded like she is living in the area. Julia called the man Mr. Wedig. Unfortunately I didn't get the full phone number before they hung up. I'm missing the last four numbers. I just have the 608 area code and the 762 indicating the city. I checked the map. It's a rural area."  
  
"We will take it from here. How many Wedig's could there possible be?"  
  
"Good Luck. I'll meet you there as soon as I loose my latest tail."  
  
"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't want to lead Alcazar to Skye."  
  
"I know, but being this far away from her for this long is really wearing me down."  
  
"It's your own fault. You never should have left her in the first place."  
  
"I know. Believe me, I'm paying for it now."  
  
"What about the guys that are following you."  
  
"I was having trouble figuring out who and how they were following me. After my talk with Skye, I haven't had any problems picking them out of the crowd."  
  
"I'm impressed. Talking to her settled your mind that much that you could focus?"  
  
"No, it's not that. Although, the fact that she would willingly pick up the phone and talk to me did help. She told me how to spot them in the crowd. Now that I know what to look for, I'm amazed that I didn't notice them before."  
  
Jerry smiled. "I'll be sure to thank her for you."  
  
"Just remember when you are thanking her that she's my woman."  
  
"Jax, it's been years since we chased the same woman."  
  
"That's because it's been years since we have been attracted to the same woman."  
  
"I always figured that was because you lowered your standards for a while because you were tired to competing for the really good ones. After spending so much time with your wife, I'm happy to see that your standards have finally risen."  
  
"Jerry, don't you dare flirt with my wife."  
  
"That would be ex-wife. Relax Jax, I guarantee that I won't do anything that you wouldn't do if our situations were reversed."  
  
"Yes. That's what I am worried about."  
  
Jerry laughed. "I'll see you latter. When you get to the states, ditch the phone and pick up the new one at the drop site."  
  
"I know where. Good luck. We will compare notes in what, 24 hours?"  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
-- "Do I look to big in this dress?"  
  
"Skye you've got two babies in there. You're are going to get big. Did you remember your pills?"  
  
"Yes, I took the pill. If I am this big now, how big am I going to be when I come due."  
  
"What ever happened to 'Oh how cute, I'm showing. Isn't it great, I can feel my babies moving.'"  
  
"At three months showing was cute. It was new. Now I'm a blob. How do people handle all the moving around?"  
  
"You like it when they move."  
  
"During the day. Why can't they sleep when I do?"  
  
"Skye you're only five months along."  
  
"My point exactly. If they're fluttering around and hitting my insides like this now, what are they going to be like when they get bigger?"  
  
"If they are boys, hopefully as handsome as the rest of the Jax males. If they are girls, they will be as beautiful as their mother."  
  
"Good save."  
  
"I thought so."  
  
Jerry pulled the car into the parking lot by the park. "This has to be a mistake. I knew Brenda. The woman I knew loved attention and sexy tight fitting clothes from designer lines. She liked going out at night and good restaurants. That's why modeling was the perfect job for her. There is absolutely nothing in this town. If I blinked while driving through, I would miss it." Jerry complained.  
  
"It isn't completely bare. I counted three bars when we drove down that last street. This place looks better than that little backhole in Louisiana that Jax dragged me to." Skye commented.  
  
"Jax took you there? That little town may not look like much, but it has the best fried gaiter anywhere."  
  
"Oh God. Not you too. If spattered grease is what appeals to you, the sign in that last bar said it served food."  
  
"There isn't even a hotel in this backhole."  
  
"Who in their right mind would want to stay here? Any hotel would go broke. Do you have any ideas on how to find this Mr. Wedig? I check the phone book. There are 16 listings for Wedig in this town. That's assuming this guy lives in this town and wasn't just calling from one of these houses."  
  
"What? You don't have a plan for this? Here I was beginning to hero worship you for your inventive solutions."  
  
Skye rolled her eyes and said playfully, "I fell off of my pedestal already?"  
  
Jerry smiled, "With me, you will never fall off of your pedestal. It doesn't matter what you have done, or will do, chances are I've done something worse."  
  
"A man I can't shock, I think that I like this. Why didn't I meet you before I fell in love with Jax?"  
  
"Because you had the extremely bad taste to not wait until I met you." Jerry teased. "I have an idea. This is a small town. My experience with small towns has been that everyone knows everyone else's business. We just need to find out who the town gossips are and ingratiate ourselves. Are you hungry?"  
  
"You have got to be kidding. You really want to eat at that tiny little bar?"  
  
"It can't be that bad. I'm hungry and as you pointed out, it looks like it is the only place to eat in town."  
  
"You go ahead. I think that I have lost whatever appetite that I might have had."  
  
"What do you plan to do in the meantime?"  
  
"If the plan is to find someone who loves to gossip, you can drop me off at the local library." 


	19. chapter 19

"Find out anything interesting?" Jerry asked as he picked Skye up in front of the library.  
  
"It could be. Apparently a brunette by the name of Brenda showed up here a couple of years ago. She has been living in 'sin' with some man who is a best friend of someone from the Wedig clan. I have to tell you. Those old ladies, who also by the way serve on the church board, are in a tissy. But for all their outrage, not one could come up with the name of the guy. They think the woman worships the devil because she never shows up for Mass. Small town life, you have to love it."  
  
"His first name is Max. The guys down at the bar have mixed reviews about the relationship. On one hand, the woman is a beautiful brunette. They think he is one lucky son of a gun for sharing a bed with such a beautiful woman. On the other hand, those that have met her don't understand why he puts up with her. The woman in question feels that she is slumming and insults his friends on a regular basis. She will pick up and leave for the city for a few weeks at a time. She runs up his credit card bills. She buys clothes with designer labels yet she can't seem to find something appropriate to wear to a small town fair. Well, actually the guys have mixed reviews on that."  
  
"All that, and we still aren't any closer to finding her."  
  
"I wouldn't say that."  
  
"All we have is a first name. How are we going to find them on that."  
  
"His best friend's name is Chris. Apparently Max lives next door."  
  
Skye gave Jerry a brilliant smile. "We got her." Skye flipped through the phone book. "Here it is. 25652 County Road G.  
  
Just then, the phone rang. "Jerry here."  
  
"Hey Jerry, how is it going on you're end?"  
  
"We think that we have located her. When are you going to get down here?"  
  
"I'm actually not that far away. I gave the guy who was following me the slip. Then I turned around and started following him. It was quite an interesting site for a while. Then he got a phone call and took off. He just turned into a driveway on County G."  
  
"What's going on?" Skye asked.  
  
Jerry looked over at Skye. "Jax turned the tables on the man that was following him. Jax followed the guy to a house on County G."  
  
Skye cursed. "They're waiting for us. They are setting up shop right on her doorstep."  
  
Jerry turned back to the phone. "Jax, Skye says that it's a trap."  
  
"Jerry, Alcazar just turned into the driveway. I think that they are expecting more than just me to show up."  
  
"If we are going to get Brenda, we are going to need a distraction."  
  
"I don't think that's going to be necessary."  
  
"I can't see who, but a man and a woman are getting in the car. Just a moment Jerry, I need to get in a better position or they will be able to see me when they come out of the drive." Jax hung up.  
  
Jerry looked over at Skye. "It looks like Alcazar is moving Brenda and Max off the property in anticipation for us to show up. Jax is going to call us back."  
  
"That's Alcazar. We are going to have to do something about him. For myself I don't mind so much. I've lived looking over my shoulder for twelve years. But I don't think that I could handle it if he hurt one of my babies."  
  
"I've been thinking about that. You know him better than anyone else. The man must have some weak spots somewhere."  
  
"Perhaps, but they're not easy to get too."  
  
"No one is impenetrable."  
  
"Alcazar has two main enemies. But he keeps them at bay by keeping them occupied fighting each other. Every time it looks like they might form a truce, Alcazar arranges a new misunderstanding."  
  
"So these two groups are to busy fighting each other to ever be a serious threat."  
  
"But if they were ever able to settle their differences and joined forces, their combined organizations could easily overpower Luis Alcazar. I actually have some files back at the lake house on them. I've come up with several different scenarios to get them to start talking again. But getting them to put aside their differences long enough to take Alcazar on, would probably take an act of God."  
  
The phone rang again and Jerry picked up. "Jerry, they moved them just a few doors down. It shouldn't be a problem getting to them."  
  
"This could be a trap."  
  
"I don't think so. They're setting a trap up at the other house. Not long after the other two left, another car came in. Physically the woman looks like Brenda, but the accent is all wrong."  
  
"Just wait a minute. You got close enough hear her talk? What the hell do you think that you are doing out there?"  
  
"Relax Jerry, I'm fine. But they did leave someone at the other house. We need to find a way around them."  
  
"I'll be right there after I drop Skye off somewhere safe." With that Jerry hung up.  
  
"What do you mean drop me off somewhere safe? I'm coming with you."  
  
"Skye, be reasonable. You're pregnant. You can't be risking those babies."  
  
"Are you forgetting? I'm the only one here that Alcazar wants alive and in one piece."  
  
"Be that as it may, something could go wrong and you could be hurt by accident."  
  
"So I will sit in the car. I'm going. If you try to leave me behind, I'll rent a car and go by myself."  
  
Jerry looked at Skye for a moment. "Okay, but I have to stop by the hotel and pick up a couple of things to create a distraction. Alcazar left a man behind at the house Brenda was moved to."  
  
"Fine. Let's go."  
  
When the hotel, Jerry hurried in with Skye not to far behind her.  
  
"What do we need."  
  
"There's a case in the closet. Can you get it?"  
  
Skye went to the closet and opened the door. Suddenly she felt herself being gently shoved in. The door closed solidly behind her. Skye swore, then turned around and started pounding on the door. "Jerry, let me out. Let me out now."  
  
"You know I can't do that. You said it yourself. If you were out here you would rent a car and follow me to the house. I won't let you get in the line of danger. Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I am done helping Jax."  
  
Skye pounded on door some more. "Jerry, I swear to God that I will never forgive you for this." Skye listened as the door to the room closed. "I can't believe that I fell for that. I should have seen that coming. I did the same thing to AJ once. This can't be happening. Someone has to come by. A maid will let me out. Who am I kidding? The maid has already been here and gone. Jerry and I are probably the only guests at the hotel at the moment. I swear that when Jerry gets back, I'm going to kill him."  
  
--  
  
"Hi Jerry. Did you have any problems getting Skye someplace safe?" Jax asked as he embraced his brother.  
  
"I left her at the hotel. We better get this done quickly and get back there. She is going to be extremely upset with us." Jerry replied.  
  
"Oh great. This will be the first time that I have seen her in months and she is going to be mad at me for not letting her put herself in danger."  
  
"UH, yeah, that too."  
  
"Jerry, what do you mean, that too."  
  
"Well, if I had just left her behind, she would have gotten a car and come after us. She does know where we were going."  
  
"Jerry what did you do?"  
  
"It was for her own good. In a few more months, she will be giving birth to the next generation of the Jax family."  
  
"Jerry?" Jax growled out in a warning tone.  
  
"I locked her in the closet."  
  
Jax's expression was a mixture of worry and amusement. "You're right. We better not spend much time here. We can't leave her in that closet for too long. Damn, I'm glad that I'm not in your shoes. She is going to be so pissed with you when you let her out."  
  
"Well, actually, I was sort of hoping that you would do the honors."  
  
"Chicken."  
  
"Self-preservation. Who knows what she will have come up with by the time that we get back there. So how are we planning to do this?"  
  
"It shouldn't be hard. They just left the one guard. He isn't there to guard them. He is just making sure that they don't jump in the car and take off while they are setting their trap. We can circle around to the backside of the house without disturbing him. We should be able to walk the back door without Alcazar's guard catching on."  
  
"That sounds good. Let's go."  
  
Jax and Jerry quickly circled around to the back of the house and let themselves in the back door. Once inside, they heard Brenda and some other man talking in a neighboring room.  
  
When they entered the room, Jax couldn't believe his eyes. "What the hell are you doing there?"  
  
--  
  
"Boss." The word crackled on the phone.  
  
"I gave you one simple job. Keep them on that farm. What more instruction could you possible need?" Alcazar swore. The guard in question was the son of distant cousin. He assigned the boy over there because it was out of danger and there was very little he could do to screw it up. If he hadn't owed his cousin a few favors, he would have washed his hands of the boy a long time ago. When this was over, Alcazar was considering buying some land and sending the boy there to housesit.  
  
"They're here."  
  
"I certainly hope they are. Even you should be able to handle keeping them on that farm."  
  
"No, I mean the Jacks brothers. They are here."  
  
Alcazar was silent for a moment as he swore under his breath.  
  
"Sir, what do you want me to do? Are you going to send more men or do you want me to try to keep them here too."  
  
"Is Skye with them?"  
  
"No. She isn't in the house with them and their car at the end of the road was empty."  
  
"So they left her somewhere." Alcazar considered this for a moment.  
  
"Sir? What are you're orders? Do you want me to take them out?"  
  
"No. Leave them in the house. They came to talk to Brenda, let them. The longer it takes them to get their answers, the better. I want you to cut the tires on the cars by the house so they can't use them."  
  
"What about the car by the road?"  
  
"Leave that one to my people. Just cut the tires and make you're way back here. I have an idea."  
  
--  
  
Jerry looked at the stranger with Brenda's voice, then back at Jax. "Who is she?"  
  
"Carry something or other. I dated her a couple of times after Brenda's accident."  
  
"Jax, you are such an idiot." The woman said.  
  
"How exactly are you involved with Alcazar? I assume that you have something to do with this scam Alcazar is running."  
  
"Scam? What scam would that be?" The woman said coyly  
  
"The one where he is apparently trying to make everyone believe that Brenda is still alive."  
  
She laughed. "You are still chasing that fantasy. Oh this is so wonderful. After all this time, there could never be any better revenge than you here right now."  
  
"What the hell did I ever do to you?"  
  
"Among other things, you didn't recognize me and love me for who I am. You love my perfect face. Well, I'm sorry that this face isn't perfect enough for you, but the doctors couldn't exactly put it back the way it was after it had been broken so badly." Brenda screamed.  
  
"Brenda?"  
  
"What? Didn't you see that accident? How could you think that I could come out of that looking like I did? I went face first out of a window for. It took extensive operations to get me to look pretty again."  
  
"I didn't know. I didn't know it was you."  
  
"How do you think that made me feel? You said that you felt nothing when I kissed you after that date. Hell, you apologized. I was still the same woman. I just had a different face. You didn't recognize me. You didn't recognize my kiss. I even wore the same perfume in hope that it would make you realize it was me. And you know what? Nothing happened. Nada."  
  
"I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I didn't know."  
  
"Why didn't you? I was the love of your life, or so you claimed. How could you not know that it was me? Don't bother answering that. I already know. You didn't love me. You loved your image of me. You loved playing the white knight. You loved sticking it to Sunny every time that I would choose you over him. But Jax, you never loved me."  
  
Jax was silent for a moment. "Alcazar planted an imposter in Port Charles with your face. Everyone was overjoyed to think that you were alive. Then they were disappointed to find out that she wasn't you. Even though you and I are over, there are a lot of people who care about you that deserve to know that you are alive."  
  
"Why? So they can gawk at me? Pity me for not being beautiful? You should have let that imposter continue to be me in that town."  
  
"You are beautiful." The man by her side said.  
  
She smiled affectionately at him and shook her head. "That's sweet. And when I look in your eyes, I can see that you mean it. But I don't look like I once did. Compared to who I was, I'm just pretty now."  
  
"You knew about the imposter." Jax said accusingly.  
  
"Of course I knew. Who do you think gave Alcazar all that personal information that allowed the woman to pass for me."  
  
"Do you know what Alcazar did to that poor woman?"  
  
"Do you think that I really care?"  
  
"That woman has a husband and child somewhere. But she has been brainwashed so harshly that she can't remember who she is or where they are. That's all you can say? That you don't care? She had her life ripped away from her."  
  
"So did I. Do you think that this was easy? I had to build my life all over again. So don't expect me to feel sorry for her."  
  
"Yes, I can see that you are to busy being sorry for yourself." Jax turned back to Jerry. "I think that we can go now."  
  
Jerry nodded and they left the same way that they came.  
  
--  
  
Skye pounded on the door some more in frustration. It felt like she had been stuck in this dark closet forever. "How long could it possibly take them to get there and back?" Time move extremely slowly sitting on the floor of that closet in the dark. Skye didn't know what time it was, but did know that it was night. There was no longer any light coming in under the closet door. "Jerry is so dead when he gets back. If he gets himself killed tonight before he gets a chance to get me out of here." Skye let that thought go unfinished as a light suddenly came on in the bedroom and shined in under the door.  
  
"It's about time that you got back." Skye shouted. She banged on the door for good measure. "What the hell where you thinking, locking a pregnant woman in a closet without water, food, or a bathroom. I swear when I get out of here, you are so dead, Jerry."  
  
"What took you so long?" Skye said as the door opened and she walked out.  
  
"I'm sorry to have left my lady sitting in that closet, but it took a little time to find you."  
  
Skye's face turned pale at the sound of Alcazar's voice. She turned and saw him leaning against the wall by the closet door.  
  
"But you are absolutely right about one thing. Jerry and Jax are very much dead men." Alcazar said right before she felt a slight cramp in her stomach and passed out.  
  
--  
  
Jax and Jerry quickly made there way back to Jax's car by the road. "We better hurry back to the hotel. Skye is going to be pissed."  
  
"I can't believe you locked her in a closet." Jax said as he opened the door on the driver's side. Before getting in, he paused and looked around.  
  
"What is it?" Jerry asked.  
  
"I'm not sure. It's to quiet. Something's not right."  
  
"Did you see the guard outside the house?"  
  
"No. I didn't."  
  
"Neither did I."  
  
"I know that Skye is waiting, but I think that we investigate."  
  
"I agree."  
  
Jax closed the door and he and Jerry made their way back down the driveway. When they were halfway to the house, they heard a huge explosion from behind them. Jax and Jerry turned around and saw Jax's car engulfed in flames.  
  
"Oh Hell."  
  
"He knows that we are here."  
  
"Skye."  
  
"We need to get back to town, fast."  
  
Jax swore as he saw that the tires on the cars by the house were flat.  
  
"I parked my car by a junk yard down the road. Hopefully, Alcazar's men haven't found it."  
  
"Or put a bomb in it."  
  
"Your car blew up a couple of minutes after you closed the door. If we can't find a bomb, we can always open and shut the door. If the car hasn't gone boom after a couple of minutes, we will assume that it is safe." 


	20. chapter 20

Skye sat by the window staring blankly at the countryside, trying to hold back the tears. She couldn't believe that it had come to this, that she was actually considering signing this document. To save one child, Luis was demanding that she give up rights to her other baby. When Luis had put it in front of her the first time, she had thrown it back at him, screaming that she would never give up any of her children. That had been two weeks after he had found her in that hotel closet. She had still had something then that she didn't have now, hope. Skye hadn't believed Luis when he said that Jax and Jerry were gone. He said that they had died in a car explosion. He had even showed her pictures. At the time, she believed that it was another hoax, one of his many manipulations.  
  
Their names were never mentioned in any of the society and financial papers that used to follow their moves with such interest. At first she accused Luis of having the paper's doctored. He responded by sending her out under guard to whatever newspaper stand she wished to pick up as many papers or magazines that she wanted. Short of buying up every newspaper and magazine in the world. Even Luis couldn't control those odds. Not once were their names ever mentioned. The only thing that kept her from being completely crushed was the fact that she hadn't found anything in the mortuary sections.  
  
She believed at first that Luis was just covering up any evidence that Jax and Jerry were causing trouble. But Luis was living there with her. He didn't even try to hide what he was working on. He considered it a bonus when something he was doing scared her. Every hideous act he ordered, every life that ended, served to emphasize the fact the he wouldn't hesitate to kill the child in her womb that he didn't want. He wanted her scared and she knew it. Skye kept waiting. Despite the fact what he did turned her stomach in knots, she kept a close eye on what was going on. Jax and Jerry were never mentioned. The only people who seemed to take Luis's attention away from the pregnancy was his two rivals in Africa and Russia.  
  
And as the weeks turned to months, her belief turned to doubt. Her hope began to fade. The closer that she came to her due date, Luis's offers became more tempting, more reasonable. The first offer had been to sign over complete custody of her and Luis's child in exchange for not killing Jax's. Over time, that offer had changed. At first she wouldn't even look at it. But as time passed, she started to consider what her children's options were if Jax and Jerry couldn't save her, or heaven help her, were actually dead. She read it and then immediately started pointing out the loopholes. All that document guaranteed was that he wouldn't kill the one baby at birth in exchanged for custody. There was nothing their that stopped him from killing one of her children latter on. So he changed to document to state that if anything ever happened to her and Jax's child, she would automatically get custody of her other child. The 'anything' was to reassure her that Luis would have a vested interest in seeing that the child survived. To tempt her further, he gave her open visitation. He even added clauses that allowed her to live there. He was gradually building a web around her. She knew it. He knew that she knew it. But he still held the upper hand. He knew that she would have a hard time leaving any of her children behind. Getting that legal hold over rights to one of them would keep her there.  
  
So yet again, Skye sat looking at that document. It would save her one child's life, but it would doom her other child to life with Luis as a father. She knew that she couldn't abandon either of her children. This document would tie her to Luis forever. That thought made her physically ill. But really what choice is there? Like it or not, the doctor is taking the babies out tomorrow. "If I don't sign it, by the time I wake up Luis will have killed one of my children. I can no longer afford the luxury of hope." Skye said out loud to the empty room. Slowly picking up the pen, she added her name to the teardrops that covered the document. 


	21. chapter21

"I don't know about you, but I feel like I just spent the last month hitting my head on a wall." Jax groaned as he dropped into the chair beside Jerry.  
  
Jerry lifted his head from the table. "How can they not see what is really going on? I don't get it. As soon as something bad happens, they automatically assume that the other side did it. They don't even bother to find out what really happened."  
  
"They didn't listen to you either." Jax stated the obvious.  
  
"No matter how much evidence I bring to the table proving that it was Alcazar started every one of these feuds, they refuse to listen. The throw everything I say aside as if it was irrelevant. I don't know Jax. Maybe Skye was right. These two sides hate each other so much; they will never work together. It may take a miracle."  
  
"That may be the point."  
  
"That they need a miracle?"  
  
"That it's irrelevant who started what. So much has happened since each of these incidents. Everything they did in the name of retaliation was much worse than anything Alcazar did to get them started. Neither side may have started it, but that doesn't change everything they did afterwards. Both sides have some legitimate reasons to despise each other."  
  
"And as long as they refuse to work together, that leaves us..."  
  
"*&%$ out of luck." Jax finished.  
  
"No. We've put in to much time and trouble to simply give up."  
  
"I have no intention of giving up. We just need to find another strategy."  
  
"We haven't even been able to find the bastard." Jerry pointed out.  
  
"Skye is getting close to her due date."  
  
"I know. We will find her Jax."  
  
Jax and Jerry looked up as someone approached the table. "Ah, My Australian friends, why do you look so gloomy?"  
  
"Not now, Allec. We really aren't in the mood."  
  
"I don't know why not. It's a lovely day. The weather is warm. The wine is excellent. We are all sitting here in neutral territory alive and well. That my friends is something to celebrate." Allec looked at the gloomy faces of his friends. "Ok maybe for you it is not such a wonderful day. You accomplished something absolutely marvelous."  
  
"We accomplished nothing Allec." Jax stated shaking his head. "We have been here three damn months and we haven't gotten one step closer to getting them to work together."  
  
"No, no, no, my friends. You have been spending so much time looking at the big picture that you have failed to see what you have accomplished." Allec commented as he reached for the bottle of wine, poured some in Jax and Jerry's glasses, and then took a drink directly from the bottle.  
  
"What exactly would that be? For running around in pointless circles. For being told to go to hell on one side and being kicked out of everyone's houses on the other."  
  
"For getting two side to listen to a point of view that differs from their own without them killing the messenger. For going back and forth between their enemies' houses and not being shot or accused of being a spy. You my friends have done something absolutely amazing. You have gotten them to talk to each other."  
  
"They hate each other. That isn't going to change anytime soon."  
  
"Did you really thing it would? They have been at each other's throats for over a century. Besides for what you need, they don't need to like each other. They just need a common goal and sufficient motivation to form a truce long enough to carry it out."  
  
"What do you think that we have been trying to do? Every time we think that we have found some common ground, some little thing happens and they are trying to kill each other again. We will never get them to talk reasonably to each other."  
  
"Not true my friends." Allec said with a smug look on his face.  
  
Jerry looked speculatively at Allec. "You know something."  
  
Allec went to take another swallow from the bottle, only to find it empty. "Keeping track of all these interesting events has left me very thirsty."  
  
Jax ordered another bottle and asked for another glass. When everyone's glass was full, Allec continued. "I happen to know that a certain daughter of a certain important family in Russia is planing to run away with a certain son of their family's enemy."  
  
"What? Oh no, those two teenagers they separated during that meeting last month."  
  
"It has been going on for months."  
  
"I fail to see how this helps us."  
  
"Their go between is one of Alcazar's men."  
  
"Oh God," Jerry said as he sat up.  
  
"They're being set up." Jax commented.  
  
Allec nodded. "If Alcazar acts in the same manner as the past, the second they are out from under their families protective sphere. He will kill them and blame the other families, thus renewing the conflict between the two once again."  
  
"How accurate is your information. Can you find out the when and where in time to stop it?"  
  
"It is quite accurate. For a price, I can find out anything." 


	22. chapter 22

Dr. Feltman walked cautiously into the nursery where his patron was rocking one of the newborn babies. As he studied Mr. Alcazar. He tried to figure out what it was about the man that made him so nervous. Alcazar was a generous patron. He had donated millions of dollars to this hospital. He was always very polite. the nurses adored his old world manners. The way that he so gently and carefully tended to those new born children should have allayed to rest all his troublesome doubts about the man.  
  
But there was something about him. Something that made Dr. Feltman fell more at ease around the bums and drug addicts that he occasionally treated in emergency than when he was in Mr. Alcazar's presence.  
  
"Mr. Feltman." Feltman slightly jumped at the sound of Mr Alcazar's low toned voice. "How did the surgery go?" Alcazar looked at Feltan expectantly.  
  
Dr. Feltman pulled himself together. "It went perfectly. The young woman is in recovery. She should awaken in a few hours."  
  
Alcazar nodded and motioned toward the redheaded girl in her crib and the dark haired baby in his arms. "I need you to run a DNA test on these two and match them against my DNA"  
  
Dr. Feltman looked at Alcazar in surprise.  
  
"I'm fairly sure that this little boy is mine, but I need the tests done to prove it of legal purposes." The child in his arms let out a soft wail at the irritated sound of Alcazar's voice. Alcazar rocked the child until the baby settled down quietly into his arms.  
  
"I will arrange for the test right away." Dr Feltman said before retreating from the room. He knew what it was about Mr. Alcazar that put that uneasy felling in his stomach. It was the cold, distasteful look in Alcazar's eyes when he looked at that sweet baby girl in the crib.  
  
Feltman opened the babies' files to order the paternity tests. After reading the files, he knew what those test would say. He groaned and considered giving notice and transferring far, far away. The girl's blood type was a perfect match for her mother's. The boy, however, didn't match either the mother's, Alcazar's blood type, or combination of the two. There was no way that Alcazar could be that baby boy's father. There was going to be hell to pay when the man found that out. ------------------------------  
  
Jerry silently moved through the bushes as he searched for a better position. It was a still night. Not even the leaves bristled in the breeze to cover the sound of his footsteps. With every step Jerry cringed, sure that those guarding his intended prey would at any moment turn and start shooting.  
  
Jerry had always loved the danger and thrill of whitewater rafting down impossible rivers and skiing down daredevil slopes. He even has had his fair share of illegal dealings with some of the world's more shady elements, but being shot at was always something he had striven to avoid. The white knight routine had always been his brother's forte. So as he carefully climbed down the slope, his heart beat louder than the steps that he took. Jerry practically sighted in relief as the two gunmen moved into the railway station, leaving his prey completely unattended.  
  
Jerry swiftly took advantage of their absence and moved to the only vehicle in the lot, crunched down and slid under the car. After disabling the target, Jerry dumped the engine parts in the bushes then moved back into the surrounding trees. Settling into position, he searched for some sign from Jax that either Allec had arrived with the two disputing factions or that the teenagers had been sighted. Jerry didn't have long to wait.  
  
One moment everything was completely still. Suddenly Jax moved quickly from his position. Jerry swore. The kids had shown up before the Calvary. Jerry ran around to the side of the building as the sound of the click clack of the train wheels covered the sound of his footsteps. He stopped just a few feet behind one of the thugs. Hoping to blend into the shadows, Jerry pressed himself against the wall and waited until he could make his move.  
  
As Jerry searched the area for some sign of his brother, he saw the two lovers descend from a passenger car some distance from the station. The two gunmen did nothing as they waited for the train to pull away. They waited as their prey moved towards them. Joy at seeing their coconspirators in their daring runaway radiated on their unsuspecting faces. As they drew closer to the platform, the thug in front of Jerry raised his gun. Jerry pounced forward and pushed the gunman against the building as he was pulling the trigger. Simultaneously, Jax appeared behind the two kids and pushed them down and under the platform.  
  
As Jerry struggled with the first gunman, Jax jumped onto the platform to help. As Jerry punched out the gunman, the second thug took aim at Jax. To Jerry's horror, he heard himself scream out his brother's name at the sound of the gunshot and saw Jax going back off of the platform. In a rage, Jerry turned to the second gun man and starred in astonishment at the sight in front of him. The second gunman was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.  
  
The next sound he heard was Jax swearing loudly on the ground below the platform. Jerry jumped over the ledge to check on his brother. Jerry found Jax cradling his bleeding head. "How bad is it?" Jerry asked as he leaned over the wound.  
  
Wincing, Jax held his head. "I hit the damn rail when I dived off of the platform." Jax reached out his other hand. "Help me up."  
  
As Jerry helped Jax to his feet, Allec walked up, gun in hand. Behind Allec was an assembly of the two families. The head of the Russian party stepped forward. "I dearly hope you didn't call us out here to save your ass from two measly thugs."  
  
The leader of the African group added, "Because if you have, we may have to finish what they started."  
  
At the sound of their fathers' voices, the two scared teenagers came out from under the platform and ran to their fathers' arms.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"Papa, I love Sangro."  
  
"And I love Peatra, father."  
  
"We were going to run away together and those men up on the platform were going to help us."  
  
"But when we arrived they tried to shoot us instead."  
  
Sangro pointed to Jax. "He pushed us out of the way."  
  
The announcement caused a roar of outrage through the entire group. This roar caused the thug that Jerry had knocked out to awaken. The second he did, he wished that he hadn't. Members of the family of the children he was hired to kill surrounded him.  
  
The head of the Russian family ordered, "Restrain him and take him to the meeting hall. We will have a full confession about who hired him before the night is out." Then he turned back to Jax and Jerry. "It appears that we owe you a debt." As he spoke, Jax began to sway. Jerry grabbed him before he could fall over. "Carry him to one of the cars. Allec will drop you off at the hospital as we deal with this matter." That was the last thing that Jax heard as he passed out. 


	23. chapter 23

Okay, I know that I haven't updated in a very, very long time and that this is a very short update. I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing. So hopefully I will have more soon. I want to thank everyone who keeps writing and giving me the kick in the pants that I need to keep going with this story.

The first thing on Skye's mind as she pushed her way through the drugged fog was her children. She could feel that they were no longer safely inside of her. She needed to see her children. She needed to feel them. She needed to know them. But every time that she managed to regain enough consciousness to be aware of where she was, she just couldn't push past the lethargic effects of whatever it was they used to put her out. It wasn't long before the effort to push up past this fog became too much. To Skye, these brief moments on the edge of consciousness seemed to last an eternity.

But finally, she could open her eyes and look around. After Skye took a few moments to orientate herself, she found the nurse's button and asked to see her babies. Skye could hardly contain her excitement. This was it. She was finally going to hold her babies. When the nurse brought in her son and placed him in her arms. Skye was smiling and crying at the same time. This little one was hers. He was absolutely perfect. She counted his tiny fingers and toes and gently kissed his forehead.

The nurse came in again and picked up the baby to take him back to the nursery. Skye looked at her expectantly. "I would like to see my other baby now."

The nurse looked slightly nervous. "I'm sorry miss, but there has been a small problem with the other baby. We can't bring her in right now."

"What do you mean? Why can't you bring her to me? Where is my baby?" A thousand different possibilities ran through Skye's mind. Each scenario was worse than the last. Each reason had something to do with Alcazar.

"I will get the doctor. He will explain the situation to you."

Skye began to panic. "Oh god, he broke his word, didn't he. He did something to my baby."

The nurse yelled for the doctor.

The doctor ran in with Alcazar right behind him.

"You son of a ! What the have you done with my baby." Skye yelled as she struggled to get up.

Skye was so hysterical now that the doctor called for a seditive to calm her.

Alcazar ignored the doctor and walked up to Skye. As Skye hit out at him, Alcazar scooped Skye up into his arms and strode out of the room. He held her tightly to him in order to limit her ability to hit him. That didn't stop her from trying.

"Fool woman. Stop squirming before you hurt yourself." Alcazar growled.

"Where's my baby?" Skye cried out. "You promised. You promised not to harm either of my babies."

"I didn't." Alcazar stated coldly. He suddenly stopped in front of a window. Skye felt a sharp jolt of pain around her stomach as Alcazar dropped her feet to the floor. He grabbed her chin tightly and turned her head to look through the window. "Look." Alcazar ordered. "She's right there. You're daughter is right there."

Skye squirmed for a moment to get loose until Alcazar's words began to sink in through her panic.

As she looked through the window, she saw her daughter in an incubator with tubes running in her nose.

"What's wrong? Why does she need those tubes?"

"She was having trouble breathing. The doctors have some worries about her lung development."

"Will she will be okay?"

"She has been improving. They will be removing the tubes in a couple of days if she continues to do well."

"Can I hold her?"

The doctor came to her side and said, "Maybe you can hold her latter. Right now I need to get you back to bed and check your stitches."

"Please I want to hold my baby."

"I want to examine you first. But if everything checks out, I will give permission for you to be rolled to the nursery for her next feeding."

"Doctor, I want arrangements made for the children to be moved into Skye's room as soon as the girl is well enough to be moved from the nursery." Alcazar stated.

The doctor nodded. "That can be arranged."

"The babies can stay with me?" Skye asked.

"As soon as it is safe for them to be with you. I trust that will keep you from having anymore of these episodes." Alcazar replied.

Skye nodded as Alcazar picked her up and carried her back to her room.

"Everything is going to be fine Skye. You will have your babies and I will have you. Everything else will work itself out with time."


End file.
